


Demon Hunter's Journal

by Anpwhotep (Yinepuhotep)



Series: Crystal Kingdom Archives [1]
Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime), Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Manga)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Multi, Romance, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2000-06-30
Updated: 2000-06-30
Packaged: 2018-02-08 23:32:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 54,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1960341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yinepuhotep/pseuds/Anpwhotep
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone new has entered the lives of the Senshi, and Setsuna seems to be taking an extra interest in ensuring a relationship between Ami and this new person. Why?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

Demon Hunter's Journal - Introduction

I'd always sworn I'd never write fanfic - I never thought I could do anything that would compare to the creator's vision, or to the expansions on it I'd seen in some of the better fanfic out there. (Thanks, Richard Lawson, Tim Nolan, John Biles, Jeff Hosmer, Fred Herriot, Chris Davies, Greenbeans, and other people I should remember but am blanking on at the moment.)

So what's this, then? Well, when an inspiration hits you, you gotta run with it.

Anyway, Demon Hunter's Journal is (despite the title) my first Sailor Moon story, and the introduction to a group of stories I call the Crystal Kingdom Archives. I've shamelessly mixed manga and anime continuity in the background, and interpreted some things from both according to my own twisted ideas, so there's sure to be something to offend everyone somewhere or other.

The full story is as follows:  
Chapter 1: No Shit, There I Was  
Chapter 2: Return of the Demon Hunter  
Chapter 3: Sailor Pluto Takes a Hand  
Chapter 4: Changes  
Chapter 5: MacManus Industries  
Chapter 6: An Old Enemy  
Chapter 7: Awakening  
Chapter 8: An Old Friend  
Chapter 9: Freaking the American  
Chapter 10: Fluorite  
Chapter 11: A Wedding  
Chapter 12: Explanations Are Never Easy  
Chapter 13: Returning Home  
Chapter 14: Closing the Circle

I do use a couple conventions in my writing. When you see something that's enclosed in double asterisks, **like this**, that indicates a mental conversation. When you see something that's written like <this>, that indicates thoughts that aren't part of a conversation. I think that covers it all.

A short glossary of non-Japanese terms:  
Ankh, Udja, Seneb: A simple blessing, always used when referring to the Niswt, which can be read as "May life, health, and strength be upon name>." In writing, it's frequently abbreviated AUS.  
Djehuty: The Netjer mistakenly called "Thoth".  
Em Hotep: A Khemetic phrase that translates literally as "in peace". It's commonly used as a greeting, the equivalent of "Good Day".  
Henu: A gesture of praise, blessing, and greeting. It's performed by raising both hands, palms forward, and bowing. The depth of bow varies, much the same way a Japanese bow does.  
Ienpw: An approximate phonetic spelling of the Netjer mistakenly called "Anubis".  
Khem: The land and civilization of the Nile; what is mistakenly called "Egypt".  
Khemetic: Someone or something from Khem.  
Netjer: God  
Niswt: Literally, Queen. The leader of those who follow the Khemetic religion.  
Smis-Dw: A Khemetic name that means "Hunter of Evil".

For those who play the Sailor Moon Fanfic Drinking Game, score the following:

General:  
5 drinks for combat  
1 drink for Chibi-Usa  
2 drinks for Outer Senshi  
3 drinks for serious injury to Haruka in the opening scene  
2 drinks for flirting with the other Senshi  
12 drinks for both Setsuna and Hotaru appearing  
At least a six-pack for all of Setsuna's plot points (maybe more - Setsuna's pretty important to this story)  
A couple cans for Hotaru's plot points  
10 drinks for Sailor Saturn (and tell us where you can run to that she won't get you, eh?)  
2 drinks for a new villain named after a gem  
3 drinks for the narrator dying and coming back to life

New Characters:  
6 drinks for two new characters (neither of whom are Senshi)  
2 drinks for instant distrust of one of the new characters  
3 drinks for one of the new characters being from the Silver Millenium  
1 drink for author insertion  
2 drinks for romantic relationship between author and one of the Senshi

Misc:  
1 drink for poor Naru

Hmm . . . looks like you might as well just buy a case and not worry about it. :)

Oh, yes. The legal stuff:

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon, Sailor Senshi, and all terms, names, etc. associated with the series are copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi and Kodansha. I make no claim to them and this work of fanfiction should not be seen as making a claim.

Those characters and concepts that are original, the Crystal Kingdom Archives, and the story "Demon Hunter's Journal", are copyrighted (c) 2000 by William G Hartwell.

Raven, Fred MacManus, David and Edgar MacManus, MacManusite, and the Ravenfield are copyrighted (c) 1980 by William G Hartwell.

Ben, Eve, Diana, Alex, and Lauren are Copyrighted (c) 1992 by William G Hartwell.

Knights in Tarnished Armor is Copyrighted (c) 1998 by William G Hartwell.

Rated: PG-13

WARNING: If you're offended by gay and lesbian romance, go read someone else's work, because you won't like ANYTHING I write.


	2. No Shit, There I Was

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wait! The gajin showed up in the middle of a fight between the senshi and some new villain because he won a contest? You're kidding, right?

"No shit, there I was, about to go up the Tokyo Tower." I glanced across the room into the shadows where my host sat, but he waved a hand dismissively. He didn't object to the language I used, as long as it expressed the truth. I don't know why he wanted me to tell him the story; he knew a lot more about what had happened than I did. He knew a lot more about everything than I did.

"Go on," he growled gently. "I want to know how you perceived what happened."

"Yes, Lord," I whispered, then started again.

No shit, there I was, about to go up the Tokyo Tower. I'd won a trip to Japan in a contest I'd run across in Newtype magazine. All I had to do was send in an essay on my favorite Sailor Senshi. It had been a difficult decision, since I had to choose between Mercury or Uranus & Neptune. I'd finally settled on the couple, since I figured Mercury had more entries dedicated to her than I could ever hope to compete with.

I only had another ten or fifteen minutes to wait in the line for the elevator when people behind me started screaming and running. If I hadn't been leaning on my cane, I might have been able to get out of their way; but when you've got a knee that has all the flexibility of a rusted hinge, the best thing to do is brace yourself and hope you don't get crushed by the mob. And they were definitely a mob. I'd turned around so I'd have a better chance to brace myself, and saw why people were panicking.

Coming toward the tower was a battle like I'd seen on CNN a few times; the Sailor Senshi were battling one of those monsters that seemed to have a tropism for Tokyo. I realized I should have considered that before accepting the prize, but it's not the first time I'd gone on a trip without adequate preplanning.

It's one thing to watch excerpts from a fight on CNN; it's something else entirely to be right there in person, with weird energy blasts going off all over the place, pieces of buildings crashing to the ground, and panicking civilians getting flash-fried, crushed, or shredded. No doubt about it: I froze. Scared shitless, even. That's when it happened.

The monster got in a lucky shot, and knocked Sailor Uranus back a good hundred yards. She hit the base of the tower, about twenty feet from me, and fell to the ground. That shocked me out of my immobility. One of the three Senshi I'd most like to meet, and she could be dead before I ever got the chance. I stumped toward her and didn't like what I saw as I got closer. She was blowing pink froth with every breath, but was still trying to get to her feet and rejoin the battle.

She looked past me and opened her mouth to speak, but doubled over choking before she could get a word out. I turned to see what she'd seen, and knew I was dead. The other Senshi were still so caught up in the fight, they didn't even know Uranus was down, and the monster had turned three of its eyes and at least a half-dozen tentacles toward finishing the job it started.

I lost it. I knew no matter what I did, I was going to die, and they needed Uranus alive. As the tentacles moved in, I began working my cane. Between the little bit of SCA fighting and Escrima I'd tried before my knee forced me to give them up and the strange feelings, like half-formed memories, that had guided me, I'd worked up a stick fighting style that worked pretty good against muggers who thought a fat cripple was a good target. Unfortunately, it didn't work so good against a twenty-story-tall monster with more tentacles than I had hair.

The only bad thing about dying was the horrified look in Uranus' eyes when the tentacles tore me apart. I've lived with pain for so many years, the physical sensations weren't so bad...but I wished I'd been able to help her more.

"So that's it, Lord. The next thing I knew, I was here. It's nothing like what I expected." I looked around the gloom, wondering where the gates were, where the Nile was, and why Ienpw had come to meet me here, wherever here was.

"That's because I need you to go back," He said, stepping out of the shadows and looking at me with those penetrating brown eyes. His look told me all I needed to know; my heart wouldn't let me disappoint him by saying no, although He'd allow me to travel on if I did.

"Will you tell me why, Lord?" I knew I'd do it, and I knew he didn't have to say why, but I had to ask.

"For Haruka. While she's willing to kill when necessary, she's never been forced to watch a civilian die while trying to protect her. The guilt will kill her spirit, long before anything could kill her body." He looked sad, as if He knew what he was asking of me. Hell, what am I saying? Of course He knew what He was asking of me.

"Haruka? Is that her name?" Suddenly, I had...call it a brainfart, if you want. "Like, Ten'ou Haruka? The racer? That's wild. The only other racer I ever met was Gordy Johncock, back when I was...eight? Nine?"

"You were nine. He was still using the garage in Hastings, Michigan, when your father introduced you to him, as a not-so-subtle attempt to humiliate you into living your life his way."

"Yeah. I remember." I remember that one of the greatest disappointments in my life was not being able to dance on the bastard's grave when he finally had the good grace to die.

"He has met the Destroyer. You don't need to concern yourself with him any more. What is your other question?" He almost seemed to be smiling as he asked.

"So...do I get any special abilities, or powers, or anything like that? I mean, if I'm going to be around any of them for very long, I really don't want to be bait for the monster of the week. It'd also be kind of nice to be able to talk to them without having an interpreter around." OK, so I was still a little unsure about all this, but I could hope.

He laughed. It's kind of weird, hearing a human laugh come from a canine mouth, but he did. Then he laid a hand on my shoulder and licked my forehead.

"Fred belongs to another universe. You have the ability to be like him, if you take advantage of the opportunities that will come your way with the Senshi, but the only special abilities you need are those already within you. Trust your heart, and your faith. You do need to be able to talk with them, though. That much, we can give you without upsetting Ma'at." He looked into the shadows and nodded, and I decided that if I weren't already dead, I'd be fainting about now as I guessed what was about to happen.

A spot of light had appeared in the gloom when He nodded, and swiftly grew, revealing Djehuti. He walked around us, looking me up and down like a butcher inspecting a side of beef. Then Ienpw nodded, and I knew they were discussing me. No way was I going to embarrass my Lord, so I looked back into the ibis eyes of the God who was going to give me understanding of Japanese. His gaze swiftly shifted from calculating to amused approval, and He tapped my forehead with the tip of his beak.

"Just be sure you don't let your studies of our language lag," He warned before fading from sight.

"He is concerned, because the Senshi leader is special to him," my Lord said softly. "You'll do fine, as long as you remember to find who and what you are. Now it's time for you to go, my child."

"You did it, Sailor Moon!"

"But I haven't done anything yet!"

"He can't die. It's not right!"

"Let her heal you, my love. For me?"

My head felt light, like I'd been floating in an isolation tank for a few minutes. I opened my eyes, and grimaced at the brightness of the sun. Then I realized it only hurt; it wasn't blinding me the way it usually did. I groaned and raised a hand to my forehead to block out some of the sun.

"It's all right, Haruka. I'm not dead yet. Let her heal you, ok?" As soon as I let those words slip, there was dead silence all around. I looked up at the expressions of shock and suspicion in the women around me - well, all right, technically they looked like teenage girls, but the things they did entitled them to be considered women in my book - and groaned. "Shit. Me and my big mouth. Could you all forget I said that? Well, except the part about healing. I know a punctured lung when I see it."

That's when this black cat with a gold crescent moon on its forehead landed on my chest and glared into my face.

"Who are you and why are you here?" OK, so the cat talks. Why not? My eyes were coping a little better with the light, so I lowered my hand to a position where it could sniff it.

"My name's Bill, and I'm here because I won the "Name Your Favorite Senshi" contest in Newtype magazine. I'm on the ground like this because that monster was about to kill Sailor Uranus and I got stupid." I smiled when the cat didn't claw or bite me, and laughed softly. "Wish I could get stupid like that more often. Without the dying part, though. I'd rather save my next death for when it's scheduled."

Just then, Haruka let go with a choking cough that sounded like she'd tried to move and ripped up more of her lungs. Without thinking, I pushed to my feet and tried to move toward her. Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mars stepped in the way, while Sailor Moon, Sailor Saturn, and Sailor Mercury moved toward her. When I saw the situation, I sighed and looked down for my glasses and cane. Then I blinked and stared at the nearest visible sign. I could read it. Without my glasses. And my knee didn't hurt. In fact, I didn't hurt anywhere. I whooped with joy and yelled out a prayer of thanks, while spinning on my bad leg for the first time in over ten years.

Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter looked at me like I was insane. I can't really blame them. I'd been dead just a minute before, I knew the name of one of their teammates, and now I was whooping and dancing like a fool. I stopped and bowed to them with a silly grin.

"Sorry, ladies. It's just that I don't hurt for the first time in so long I'd forgotten what it felt like to not be in pain. It's better than being drunk or high or...well, it's better than almost anything I can imagine. I'm likely to be a little giddy for a while. What say we go somewhere I can explain myself without a lot of prying eyes and ears around?" I laughed and tripped over my cane, rolled back to my feet with it in my hands the way I'd learned during the year I'd studied Tae Kwon Do, and leaned on the cane like a drunken Fred Astaire.

Mars and Jupiter looked at each other, then at me, and seemed on the verge of saying something when Uranus pushed her way between them and stalked toward me with her sword leading the way. Now that I had a chance to look at her more clearly, it seemed pretty obvious she was Ten'ou Haruka. I'd been fascinated by the article on her in Motor Trend, even though they thought she was male. I guess my gaydar had picked up on something being different about her, even then.

"Who are you, and how do you know my name?" she growled. That was all it took. I've always been a sucker for women with voices like hers. Then again, I've always been a sucker for strong women in general. I swallowed and took a deep breath, before reaching out and gently pushing her sword aside.

"My name's Bill. I'm just a tourist from the US, who happened to be in the wrong place at the right time. I know your name because my God told me while I was dead." I stepped closer, well within reach of her sword if she decided to use it, and growled softly, "And it's not your fault. If I hadn't jumped in front of you, I wouldn't have died. You would have. And I couldn't allow that." I smiled and shrugged. "Besides, dying wasn't that bad. I at least got to stop hurting."

"But...but..." She looked as if her whole universe was turning inside out. I can't say I blame her. After all, civilians aren't supposed to throw themselves between the Senshi and their enemies. That's not how the world works. I looked around, then waved at Neptune.

"Sailor Neptune? Could you?" I gestured toward Haruka and stepped back. Sometimes the only cure for what ails you is the one you love. While Sailor Neptune moved to sooth her lover, I looked around at the other Senshi. One thing was certain: they were all gorgeous. Each one had her own unique beauty, from Mercury's pixielike cuteness to Pluto's refined elegance. Hell, even Tuxedo Kamen was gorgeous. I definitely would not have turned down a pass from him, any more than I'd have said no to any of the women. Not that that was likely, the way they were looking at me.

"He's right," Sailor Moon said, stepping away from Tuxedo Kamen and walking toward me. "I think we should go somewhere private to talk. Sailor Pluto?"

"No!" Everyone, including me, turned to stare when Haruka yelled. "We'll go to my place." She glared at me as if daring me to disagree. I smiled and bowed my head. No way was I going to argue with her. I owed her too much for the pain I'd put her through.

Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter were arguing with Sailor Moon. I recognized the look on Sailor Moon's face; she'd made her decision and no amount of arguing would change it. They seemed to realize it, too, because Sailor Mars suggested something to her, and she nodded. The Senshi moved around me and took each other's hands.

"Uh, do you think we could stop on the way and..."

"SAILOR TELEPORT!"

"...pick up some tea? Uh...never mind." The apartment looked like a guy's apartment. OK, it looked kind of like mine, except less cluttered and with car stuff instead of computer stuff. It also had the occasional feminine touch that mine lacked.

"I think I can find some tea," Sailor Neptune said with a gentle smile. "I must admit, it's strange to hear an American ask for tea."

"I'm a strange American. I'm kind of hooked on genmaicha and hojicha." The women looked surprised, and I shrugged, blushing. "Just lucky, I guess."

Neptune vanished through a door that I assumed led to the kitchen, while the other Senshi found places to sit, perch, or lean against. Tuxedo Kamen looked me over with a set to his jaw that told me he wasn't sure just what to make of me. I can't blame him; there I was, six feet tall, 300 pounds, long brown ponytail, a sweatshirt with Sidney Harris' "Then a Miracle Occurs" cartoon on it (now permanently ruined by my blood), my cane, and Victorian muttonchops that joined my moustache - that I'd never managed to get long enough to properly wax before the hairs dangling in my mouth when I ate or drank irritated me enough to trim it short. Not only was I acting weird, I looked weird, too.

"Why don't you tell us what you know about us?" Sailor Moon suggested, apparently noticing my lost expression as I looked at the Senshi.

"I don't like this, Sailor Moon. I don't trust him," the black cat complained. Another cat, white-furred, with a golden crescent on its forehead, and very obviously a tom, walked into the room and sat beside the black one, looking up at me with slitted eyes.

"I wouldn't trust me, either, fuzzybutt," I said, shrugging. "I don't blame you for being suspicious. But...does anyone have a computer around here? One with internet access?"

Sailor Mercury produced a notebook computer out of thin air - I made a mental note to ask her if she knew how she did that later - and looked at me expectantly through a blue visor that hung over her eyes from her tiara. Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus were snickering at the cat's obvious discomfiture at being called 'fuzzybutt'.

"Look up macmanusnet.net, ok? That's my site. It'll probably answer most of your questions. I'll do my best to clear up anything else you want to know." I hate talking about myself. Interesting is not the word you'd use to describe me or my life - at least until this happened.

Sailor Mercury tapped on her keyboard and waited. I knew she wouldn't have long to wait. The only graphics I have on my homepage are some buttons. Her wait was much shorter than I expected. Either that notebook's wireless connection was the equivalent of my fictional MacManusNet, or she had my page cached. Or both. Her eyes widened and she looked up at me with a faint gasp of surprise. Then she looked back down at the screen, as if she didn't believe what she was seeing. I couldn't imagine what was so surprising. My homepage was just a directory to my other pages - reprints of my KITA stories, some wild-assed comp sci papers I'd written that had convinced my professors I was either a mad scientist or just plain mad, and my otaku stuff. I'd put links to my essays on that page - both the one I'd sent in about Sailors Uranus and Neptune, and the one I'd written but decided not to send in, about Sailor Mercury. Remembering that, I groaned. She was probably going to think I was a hopeless otaku if she read it. And if she was half as smart as advertised, she'd have skimmed it before I could open my mouth to object.

"Luna, Artemis, look at this! This is Raven!" Sailor Mercury sounded as if she'd struck gold. I swallowed and blushed. I'm still not used to the idea of being a successful writer. Whenever I look at my stories, I see far too many ways I could improve them. The cats hopped up on the table and peered at Mercury's computer, then at me. The tom stalked across the table until he was staring at me from just a couple feet away.

"Tell me, how do you solve the problem of quantum tunneling in complex circuits?" OK, so both cats could talk. I could handle this.

"Practically, or ideally?" I thought a minute, then smiled. "Ideally, I'd make it work for me. Why consider it a limitation, if you can find a way to control it and use it in place of ordinary circuitry? In fact, if I could figure out how Sailor Mercury accesses other dimensions, I'd use the quantum effect in combination with multidimensional circuitry to make a system more compact and reliable." I shrugged. "That's ideally, though. Practically, thicker substrate, silver or gold instead of aluminum, and a lot of testing."

Another gasp came from Sailor Mercury, and she looked up from her computer with pink cheeks.

"You really think that?" she asked. Uh-oh. She'd found my essay. I suddenly found it a little difficult to breath and felt sweat beading on my forehead. Then the black cat looked up at me and sat bathing itself smugly.

"Uh...yeah?" I murmured uncertainly. It's kind of embarrassing to have the object of shameless adoration reading what you've written about her. She smiled, still blushing, and transformed. In her civilian identity she was, believe it or not, more desirable than Sailor Mercury. Oh, she had the same pixielike looks, but she seemed more human - more approachable. Not that I've ever been all that good with my approach.

"Hi. I'm Mizuno Ami," she said, standing to bow. I blinked and returned the bow without thinking. This was the woman I'd been exchanging email with for months about my weird computer design ideas? I stumbled back and bumped into Haruka, who'd transformed while I wasn't looking. She muttered something about another Usagi and caught me.

"Umm...sorry," I mumbled and turned my head to see who'd caught me. When I saw who it was, I blushed and tried to stand. She shook her head and guided me to a chair. I was just a little too boggled to resist - not that I would have, but she didn't have to deal with me trying to "help" her.

"You're Ami?" I blurted out. "I thought you were older. I mean...your email, it read like you were a grad student."

"That's OK," she answered with a blush. "I thought you were closer to my age. I'd never bothered to look at the rest of your site before...I've just never run into anyone your age who wasn't so caught up in being 'right' that they'd actually talk with me."

I blushed and bowed my head. She was right. Hell, even people younger than me were frequently too hidebound for my tastes. I have trouble relating to anyone who was older than the average college student because of it. The problem is, that meant people frequently thought I was just interested in picking up younger women, so I got treated like a dirty old man a lot.

"Haruka, you should see what he wrote about you and Sailor Neptune." Ami called. Now I knew I was in trouble. Haruka seemed like the kind of woman who didn't appreciate outsiders analyzing her emotions, and I'd waxed eloquent about how her relationship with Sailor Neptune, like that of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen, demonstrated that the Sailor Senshi were not just fighting against evil; they were fighting for love.

I rested my forehead against my palms and waited for the explosion. Instead, I felt a hand rest on my shoulder and Sailor Neptune's voice gently asking, "Is that what you honestly believe?"

I nodded. I didn't think I could trust my voice right then. I raised my head, and looked into Haruka's eyes from across the table. I knew that look; I'd had it myself enough times. Only her stubbornness was keeping her from breaking into tears. I bit my lip and looked up toward Sailor Neptune, hoping she'd seen it, too. She looked down and nodded, then crooked a finger at Haruka and walked back into the kitchen. Haruka looked down at Ami's computer, then followed Neptune into the kitchen.

"Shit," I muttered. "I didn't want to do that. I owe her so much."

"You owe her?" Sailor Moon asked, slipping into a chair beside me while Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter tensed. It was obvious they believed it was their responsibility to protect her, and they took it seriously. The only other person in the room besides Ami who seemed calm was Sailor Pluto. I assumed she'd determined for herself I was no threat. I nodded to Sailor Moon.

"I saw the look on her face when I died. She's never had a civilian die trying to defend her before. It must have torn her apart to know she couldn't stop it." I sighed and looked down at the table. Somehow, I was crying as I imagined the pain she must have gone through. "I've got to do something to make up for hurting her like that."

"Be her friend," Sailor Moon said. "It's obvious you understand her relationship with Sailor Neptune, and..."

"Michiru," Sailor Neptune's voice said from behind me. "My name is Kaiou Michiru." The violinist? The one Motor Trend had said was...oh, that's right. They'd described her as Haruka's girlfriend; "his" inspiration.

I looked up, to see an approving nod from Sailor Pluto, and dismayed shock from Sailors Mars and Jupiter. They still didn't trust me. Michiru was...it's hard to describe just how beautiful she is without using a lot of cliched terms. Let's just say she's incredibly beautiful and leave it at that.

"Will she be ok?" I asked. Michiru handed me a tissue so I could wipe my face and blow my nose.

"Give her time. This is all new to her. For that matter, it's new to all of us. Innocent victims, we're used to. What you did...the only one who's ever done anything like that for one of us is much better able to do it." She looked over at Tuxedo Kamen with a thoughtful smile.

He walked over and laid his hands on Sailor Moon's shoulders. She looked up with the same look of devotion Michiru had given to Haruka before leading her into the kitchen. I sighed and felt my eyes tearing up again. Yes, true love does that to me.

"He also has a bond that gives him strength," I said, and felt myself blushing again. Great. Now they'd think I was one of those annoying Americans who threw out fortune-cookie quotes as if they meant something.

"Bill?" Ami's voice drew my attention; she was looking at her computer and blushing. "Do you really think I'm beautiful?"

"Yes." I took a deep breath. They were all beautiful, but..."Ami, do you know much about faeries?"

"No, should I?" She looked - and sounded - confused.

"It's not really necessary. I was just hoping for a way to offer a comparison. You see, you remind me a little bit of a pixie. I'm not sure exactly why; it's just an impression. You also have the same kind of beauty Belldandy has. If I were half my age..." I couldn't believe I'd just said that. I lowered my head to my hands and groaned. Now they'd all think I was a dirty old man.

"You'd be a year younger than Ami," came a voice from the direction Sailor Pluto was standing. "I'm not sure you'd really want that." She sounded amused.

"Thank you," Ami murmured, her voice barely reaching to my ears. I looked up, surprised, and saw tears in her eyes. She was...happy? Happy that a fat old fool had stupid fantasies about loving her? Now MY world was getting just a little unsteady. Someone as beautiful and smart and witty and delightful as her just had to have a boyfriend. Didn't she? I blinked as Pluto's words penetrated. That meant Ami was...twenty? Well, she had been sending her email from a university address, so I suppose I should have guessed.

Michiru leaned over and whispered to Sailor Moon, who looked at me with a calculating grin. I gulped and bit my lip. As much as I wanted the Senshi to think of me as a friend, the way Sailor Moon was looking at me was very disconcerting.

"Sailor Moon, don't. Not without asking him, first." Ami sounded worried. I looked from Sailor Moon to Ami and back again, then up at Michiru. She smiled and nodded.

"Don't what?" I looked at Sailor Moon and waited. Nervously, given what Ami had said. Haruka came out of the kitchen then and moved to stand with Michiru. No doubt about it: those two fit together like pieces of a puzzle. I started to suspect maybe I hadn't been so outrageous in my description of their relationship after all. I felt tears coming to my eyes again as I watched them stand together; tears of happiness at being able to see how much they love each other.

"Don't use this," Sailor Moon said, opening her brooch to expose a crystal that flashed like a flawless - and enormous - diamond, yet...something about it felt different; like an ankh I'd bought in Egypt, yet not quite the same. Different flavors is the only way I can describe it. "With this, I can make you Ami's age, if you want."

I sat back and exhaled in surprise. I wasn't the only one surprised; Mars and Jupiter had backed off, but were still watching me suspiciously. When Sailor Moon made her offer, they started, and looked as if they were about to object when Sailor Saturn spoke up.

"Like you did to me, Sailor Moon? Do you really want Ami to have to take care of him while he grows up again?" She sounded...not angry, so much as bitter. The look on Sailor Moon's face was heart-rending. I don't know what was behind it, but...

"I'll do it. If Ami wants me to." I glanced at Ami and blushed. What was going on in my mind? It was as if being dead had sliced away some of my inhibitions.

"It would give you more time to see if your ideas work. I'd like that. Especially if your ideas on cybernetics can be made to work." She looked down, blushing.

I reached across the table, barely far enough for my hand to rest next to her computer. If she took it, I was in. She looked up, then at my hand, then back up at my face. She lifted a hand and laid it atop mine. I couldn't hold back any more. I squeezed her hand as the tears flowed.

"Yes," I whispered. I knew Sailor Moon could hear me, and I was afraid to speak any louder; I knew my voice couldn't hold if I tried.

"He's coming around. Ami!"

I felt a pair of hands clutch mine, and squeezed - a lot harder than I used to be able to. A gasp startled me, and I opened my eyes, to see Ami's face hovering over mine, with tears in her eyes.

"Do you think...you could let up a little?" she whispered gently. I nodded and released her hands, letting her hold me, rather than the other way around. She smiled, kissed my forehead, and sat back.

I was laying on a sofa in Haruka's living room - it had barely been visible through the crowd of Senshi when I was at her table. I didn't remember how I'd gotten there, but with my size, I assumed it had to have been Jupiter who'd carried me.

"I'm sorry, Ami. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's all right. You didn't; not really." She smiled and looked around at the other women - and man - with us. Haruka and Michiru were watching from the bench of a piano across the room, with a cute black-haired girl just now sitting beside them. The Senshi were all gone, but...no, they weren't gone, they were transformed. The ditzy blonde with the ponytails had to be Sailor Moon, the man she was leaning against (he was still gorgeous) had to be Tuxedo Kamen... I looked around at the others, seeing their heroic selves shining through their eyes. It was as if their life was so strong, they couldn't hide it simply by taking on mortal appearance.

**Somehow I get the feeling You woke something in me, Lord.**

**I didn't have to. As you suspect, your death removed some of your inhibitions, including your inhibition against trusting your heart.**

I took a deep breath and looked back at Ami, whispering softly as I digested what He had said.

"How did you convince them to trust me?"

"I didn't. You did." She smiled; a smile that I'd walk through fire to see again. "Even Luna and Artemis have decided you're not the threat they were afraid of."

"We were not afraid," the white cat said indignantly.

"We were merely concerned for the Princess," the black cat added.

"I don't think you have to worry," the blond with the ponytails laughed. "He has love in his heart."

I gently tugged my hands free of Ami's grasp and pushed myself up. Halfway up, I realized my body felt different. A lot different. For starters, my pants were threatening to fall off because they were way too big for me, and someone had gotten rid of my bloody shirt. I let myself fall back onto the sofa, blushing.

"Umm...does anyone have a rope I can borrow?"

"Rope? I'm sure I have some," Haruka said. "Why?"

"To keep my pants on. I'm not going to sit up as long as there's a risk of them falling off." Even Jupiter and Mars - or whatever their names were now -had to laugh at that.

"I'll get it, Papa," the black-haired girl said, bouncing to her feet and dashing from the room. I looked at Haruka; the question in my eyes must have been obvious, because she shrugged.

"It was easier on her when she was younger, if people thought she had a mother and father. And since everyone in the outside world thinks I'm male..." she let it drop at that.

I understood. Even in the States, they'd have trouble in a lot of places if they made their true relationship known. And Sailor Saturn really needed to be with others like her. It was the best solution I could think of. Haruka must have seen the understanding in my expression; she relaxed, obviously enough for me to see, at least. Michiru looked at me with a smile of thanks, triggering another blush as I realized just how important these women were to me.

"Since you can't go anywhere for a while, you're ours," Sailor Moon said with a playful grin. "I'm Tsukino Usagi, and this is my Prince, Chiba Mamoru."

"Actually, I'm Ami's, but thanks for the thought." I glanced at Ami, to see her turn a beautiful shade of pink. "At least, I'm Ami's, if she'll have me." That triggered a deeper blush and a squeak from the girl who'd captured my heart.

"I think that means yes," Sailor Venus said with a laugh. "I'm Aino Minako. If you'd heard how Ami talked about her online friend Raven, you wouldn't have any doubts." She grinned wickedly at Ami, who was trying to impersonate the Incredible Shrinking Woman.

"Let me guess...you take your job as a yenta seriously." I chuckled. "And didn't you used to be Sailor V?"

She blinked in surprise and nodded slowly, then asked, "What's a yenta?"

"Oh. Sorry, it's a Yiddish word. A matchmaker." Actually, there's a lot more to being a yenta than that, but that was a good enough explanation, since that's what I'd been intending.

All of the Senshi of the inner planets broke into laughter at that. From the looks they gave her, they'd all been victims of her matchmaking at one time or another. Well, all except for Usagi, but the relationship between her and Mamoru was just as strong as that between Michiru and Haruka.

"I'm Hino Rei," Sailor Mars said. "Thank you for helping us. You're a priest, aren't you?"

"I WISH," I said with a laugh. "I'm just a servant of Ienpw; I haven't even started training to be a priest. But you are a priestess. Of a fire god, right?"

"Hmm...you should be a priest. Yes, I'm a priestess, and the shrine I serve at is a fire shrine." She smiled, her face totally different from the hostility and suspicion she'd shown earlier. "I'd like to talk with you sometime, when Ami is studying or in class."

"Uh..." I didn't want to do anything to hurt Ami, and talking with another woman when she wasn't around seemed to me to be treading close to the edge.

"What's wrong, Rei? Afraid we'll be so wrapped up in technical talk that you won't be able to get a word in?" Ami sounded almost amused, as if her geekiness were a well-worn joke.

"As a matter of fact? Yes." Rei grinned and stuck her tongue out at Ami, drawing a laugh from Usagi.

"Hey! I'm the only one you're allowed to stick your tongue out at, Rei! Do you want me to start thinking you don't love me anymore?" Usagi grinned playfully at Rei. It was obvious they were very close. Hell, it was obvious all of them were very close.

Rei gave Usagi a raspberry, followed by a redeye. "There, Princess. Feel better now?"

Usagi threw a pillow at Rei, and the Inner Senshi quickly fell into a pretty wicked pillow fight. Mamoru managed to extract himself before he could be felled by a flying pillow, and crouched beside the sofa.

"Thank you for helping Haruka. We lost them both once before, and it nearly tore Usagi's heart out."

"Am I wrong, or wouldn't losing any of you tear her apart? She seems to me to be a very loving person, and each one of you is vitally important to her."

Mamoru looked at me with approval in his eyes and nodded. "You're right. Usagi is the most loving person I've ever known." I didn't push him for more; some things are meant to be private.

"Will this work?" the girl who was Sailor Saturn stood behind the sofa holding a length of rope in her hands. I nodded and held out a hand.

"I think that'll work just fine. Thank you. My name's Bill. What's yours?" I smiled as she dropped the rope in my hand and looked at me uncertainly.

"Hotaru. I'm Tomoe Hotaru." She glanced toward Haruka and Michiru, who nodded and smiled in unison. I smiled as I watched. I couldn't imagine better parents for her.

"Thank you, Hotaru. Now, if Mamoru would loan me his cape for a minute..." I chuckled as Mamoru stood, understanding what I wanted. Before he could transform, Haruka appeared beside the sofa, holding a blanket. I smiled up at her as I took it. "Thank you, Haruka."

I flipped the blanket open over myself and swapped the rope for my old belt, then cinched my pants down around my waist. I was definitely going to have to do some shopping; the gangsta look was not my preference by any stretch of the imagination.

"You have an unusually flexible mind," the woman who was Sailor Pluto said as she moved to stand beside Haruka and Hotaru. Michiru joined them as she was speaking. "Most people would still be coping with the idea of our presence."

"I'm a writer," I said, smiling as sat up and folded the blanket. "That helps. So does being dead. It's amazing how much that alters your perspective on things." I looked up and mentally kicked myself. Haruka may have been good at concealing her feelings, but they were as obvious to me as if she'd broken into tears.

"Haruka?" I reached up, then drew my hand back. Somehow, I didn't think she'd want anyone other than Michiru touching her right now. "I just wanted to say...thank you. If it hadn't happened, I'd never have been able to experience everything I'm experiencing right now, and...I wouldn't change anything. Well, except your getting hurt. I don't deal well with my friends being hurt."

Haruka fell back a half step, into Michiru's arms. It took her a minute to regain her composure enough to speak.

"We get hurt a lot. It's part of the price we pay for what we are."

"Well, then, I guess I need to stick around so I can help you, don't I?" I smiled warmly at her. Suddenly, I had an inspiration, and rose to my feet. Being able to move and stand without pain still made me feel giddy...when I started singing and discovered I had my singing voice back, I knew what I'd told her was more true than I had imagined as I said it.

I'm not Vision. For starters, I'm the wrong sex. But "Never the End" seemed like the perfect song for the situation. Sometime during the song, the pillow fight came to a stop as the participants sat and stared at me. I was so focussed on Haruka, I didn't notice until I'd stopped singing and wondered why the room was so quiet.

Ami wrapped her arms around my right arm and looked up at me with shining eyes. The moment seemed perfect as I bent down to meet her lips. She melted against me, and time seemed to stand still. When I finally drew back to take a breath, she rested her head on my chest with a quiet sigh. I held her close and looked over her head at the others, who were, for the most part, pretending to not watch us. I can't blame them, really; Ami didn't seem like the kind of girl who showed her inner self too often.

"You didn't tell us he was a singer, too," Minako complained and grinned as she batted the back of Ami's head.

"I didn't know," Ami murmured. "He never mentioned it."

"I haven't sung in public in...years. I made the mistake of smoking for a few years, and it messed up my voice, along with everything else it messed up. It's one of the things I've missed doing for a long time." I squeezed Ami gently and looked toward Haruka to see if she'd calmed any. I smiled when I saw how she and Michiru were looking at each other. Time for a little of my style of interference. "Ami? Would you mind helping me with a little shopping? I need to replace my entire wardrobe."

Mamoru's face looked as if he'd just been threatened with death by slow torture, as Usagi grabbed his arm and squealed happily. "Shopping! I know just the place! They're having some wonderful specials, and I know we can get you dressed up almost as nice as Mamoru there."

Ami smiled and nodded, then whispered up to me, "Usagi's a shopping addict. If she says she knows where there are good specials, you can be sure she does. All you have to do is keep up with her."

"If I'm with you, I can keep up with anything," I assured her. I kissed her gently and looked up toward Haruka and Michiru. Michiru had just glanced my way, and I quietly shook my head, then glanced toward what I assumed was their bedroom. She nodded and gently urged Haruka that way, while Usagi excitedly rounded up the rest of us - even Pluto and Hotaru - for the shopping expedition.


	3. Return of the Demon Hunter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Demons and classes and Naru, Oh my! Oh yes, and there's even time to take in a movie.

After following Usagi around the shopping mall for hours, I'd finally dragged myself - and a cab full of packages - back to my hotel room. Ami had a class at 9am, so I hadn't bothered to set an alarm. I didn't wake until the phone went crazy next to my head. Why do hotels always put the telephone on the bedside stand?

"Mmrf," I mumbled into the phone as I fumbled to hold it to my ear.

"Bill? Did I wake you?" Ami's voice cut through my fog and brought me to the full upright position.

"No, Angel. I'm awake anyway." I felt a twinge of guilt at the lie, but I didn't want her to feel guilty for waking me. I glanced at the clock. It was 11:23. Ami's class should be over, but I didn't know if she had any others today. "When's your next class?"

"I have a lab at 3:00, but my next class isn't until tomorrow morning."

"Would you like to join me for lunch?" I bit my lip as I waited for her response.

"I'd love to! Where would you like to meet?"

"Well, I'm in the mood for some una-don. Any suggestions?" OK, so I'm more than a little hooked on unagi. In fact, I love it almost as much as I love tea.

"Mmm...I think there's a place near campus that might have it. I've never eaten there, so I don't know for certain." She sounded unsure, but willing to try.

"So it'll be an adventure for both of us!" I laughed happily. "Give me a little time to pull myself together and find a cab, ok? I'll meet you..."

"I have a better idea. Why don't I meet you there? I can be upstairs in five minutes."

I stared at the phone in shock. Not only had she interrupted me, something I'd never expected from her, but she was already here.

"Uh...I'm not dressed, Ami. Don't you want to give me a little time to pull myself together so I don't embarrass you?" I could feel that I was blushing and my heart was racing at the thought of Ami catching me in my current state of undress. I always slept nude; whenever I'd tried sleeping in a nightshirt or pajamas, I felt like I was strangling, or tied up, or both.

"I'm not embarrassed if you're not, Bill. I'll be right up." She hung up the phone before I could come up with an answer, leaving me staring at it in surprise.

I jumped out of bed, tripped over the shirt Haruka had loaned me, and tore through the bags I'd brought back last night. Nothing in any of them was suitable for use as a robe. How could I answer the door like this? I heard a knocking on the door and ran for the bathroom. I could wrap a towel around myself. That would work - at least for a minute or two.

"Who is it?" I called, leaning against the door as the knocking started again.

"Bill? It's me, Ami. Please, may I come in?"

I took a deep breath and unlocked the door with one hand, while holding the towel in place with the other. As the door swung open, I stayed behind it. It was weird; I'd never been this afraid before to let a woman see me naked, even when I was fat.

"Bill? Why are you hiding?" Ami stepped in far enough to look around the door at me with a teasing smile.

I blushed and swallowed as my body reacted to the beauty before me. She was wearing navy blue pea coat over a peacock blue turtleneck, with an ankle-length skirt in a darker blue that went with it perfectly. She had a little black purse attached to her belt, and black pumps on her feet. I looked into her beautiful blue eyes and saw happiness, amusement, and something I'd hoped for, but hadn't allowed myself to expect. She tugged the door from my hand and closed it behind her, turning the knob on the lock to the "Do Not Disturb" position.

Ami raised her head from my chest and smiled as she gazed into my eyes. I sighed happily and twisted to kiss her. She mmm'ed contentedly and snuggled closer.

"Don't you have a lab this afternoon, angel?" I teased, nuzzling her hair. She looked up at me with a satisfied smile and growled softly.

"The only lab I'm interested in is right here." She reached between my legs and got a good grip, while squirming on top of me.

"Ami?" I gripped her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Aren't you sore? I don't want to hurt you any more."

"Silly," she chided and tapped the tip of my nose with a finger. "I don't care about a little soreness. It feels so good, and I didn't bleed enough to worry about." She bent down and kissed me, pressing her breasts against my chest and moving her hands up to hold my head in place so she could take her time and enjoy the kiss.

No doubt about it; she was excited, and she was so exciting she was inspiring me despite the way making love drained me. Then again, I didn't feel as drained as I used to. Another advantage to losing eighty pounds. I surrendered to the inevitable and wrapped my arms around her as she shifted to take advantage of the effect she'd had on my body.

"Imp!" I laughed and turned the showerhead on Ami, still spluttering from the deluge she'd conjured up over my head. She squealed and collapsed against me, laughing just as maniacally as I was. She actually HAD blown off her lab; I expected her professor was frantically trying to find out what was wrong with her.

"I thought you said I was a pixie," she pouted, looking up at me with a quivering chin.

"Uh-uh. You are  **not**  Usagi," I chided, helplessly watching as she turned on the water like her Princess had done the night before when she wanted something from Mamoru. Now I understood why he'd looked so resigned when Usagi had done it. I pulled her close and kissed her, whispering, "You're my pixie, Ami. My beautiful pixie, who I'll love forever."

She sighed happily and snuggled against me; we stood there, my arms around her, as the shower beat down on us like a warm summer rain. A beeping, like that of a celphone, came from the bedroom.

"Do you have a celphone, sweetheart?" I gently lifted her chin so I could lose myself in her eyes again.

"Celphone? No, I..." Her eyes grew wide and she spun, grabbing for the shower door. "My communicator!"

While she was dashing for her purse, I shut off the shower and went into the main room, carrying two towels. Ami was talking into something that - to me - looked like a pocket Rolodex.

"The shrine? I'm on my way." She closed the communicator and looked at me sadly. "I have to go, Bill. There's an oni attacking the neighborhood around Rei's shrine. Wait here for me?"

"I'll wait for you, angel. For as long as it takes." I carefully didn't say I'd wait in the hotel room; something told me I needed to be at the shrine.

She smiled and kissed me, then reached into the air. I smiled at the beauty of her nude form, still glistening with water as she called out "Mercury Crystal Power, MAKE UP!" I had a brief impression of her spinning in place as bubbles swirled over her body, then my vision cleared, and she stood ready as Sailor Mercury. I blew her a kiss, drawing a smile and a blush, as she turned to leap off the balcony.

I toweled myself off and dug into my new clothes for something I could move easily in. While I was dressing, I dialed the front desk and asked where the nearest fire shrine was. The Hikawa shrine was just a few blocks away, according to the clerk. I asked him to call a cab for me, then opened the bottom of my suitcase and removed a walking stick I'd been inspired to hide in it before coming here. I checked the catch in the center and slid it apart just far enough to be sure the blades wouldn't bind, then headed for the door, leaving the balcony door unlocked in case Mercury got back before I did. I stopped when I realized if she got back before I did, she'd be worried, so I opened my laptop and recorded a message for her, then left it open on the table.

"If I don't see you at the shrine, I'll be back soon. I know I promised I'd wait, and I meant it. I'll wait for you, no matter what. But something calls me to the shrine, and I have to see what it is. I love you Ami. Bill"

The cab stopped a couple blocks from the shrine. There was no way on earth the cabby was going to get any closer to the battle ahead. I paid him and slipped out, then began jogging toward the fight. It was a real clusterfuck. The oni had come with friends. So many friends, the Senshi were forced to divide their forces to deal with them all. I found an apartment building to watch from, where I could see who was fighting what.

It quickly became obvious they were fighting a losing battle. Every time they destroyed one demon, another appeared to take its place. Someone or something had to be summoning them. I watched until I was reasonably certain I could find my way to the place where they were appearing, then ran back down the stairs to the street.

As I ran past the area of the battle, I noticed the two cats watching from the roof of a house.

"Luna! Artemis! Follow me!" I didn't wait to see if they would. The sooner I could find the source of the demons and plug it, the sooner the Senshi could stop the threat.

**I hope you know what I'm doing better than I do, Lord.**

**You're doing what you've always done. Trust your instincts. You'll do fine.**

It was weird, hearing Him respond so clearly when I said or thought in His direction. Then again, I know now that He had always responded; I just hadn't heard Him so good.

I got to the spot where the demons were manifesting, and hid for a minute while scanning the area.

"What do you think you're doing? You could get killed out here. Don't you realize what that would do to Ami and Haruka?"

"Hush, Luna. I'm trying to figure out who's calling the demons." I didn't see anything obvious in the immediate area, other than the manifesting demons; I looked around to try and figure out where someone would set up shop for something like this. There! Something didn't look right about that house, about fifty yards from the center of the problem.

"All right, you two. It's time to help the others." I rose from my crouch and ran toward the house, trusting the cats to keep up.

The closer I got to the house, the less I liked it. It looked like an ordinary house, except for the aura of evil around it that was thick enough to cut with a chainsaw. I stopped and crouched beside its yard's wall and waited for the cats.

"I don't like this," Luna complained, when she had caught her breath. "You should let the Senshi handle this."

"They're too busy dealing with the demons. I know what I'm doing. I just need you two to keep stuff off my back while I'm eliminating the source of the problem. Can you do that?" I looked down at the cats expectantly. The look of surprise in their eyes was delightful.

"You want us to help you?" Artemis asked.

"That's right. Not much that's better against demons than cats. You two have a reputation to live up to, you know." I grinned. It was hard to see Bast in these two, but I was willing to bet that was as much because the Senshi thought of them as noncombatants as anything else.

"I don't like this..." Luna started.

"We'll do it," Artemis decreed. "Come on, Luna. You know how much you worry when Sailor Moon fights. It's time for us to help her. And I think that helping him will help her."

"Well..." Luna sounded as if she wanted to argue, but couldn't think of a good argument.

"All right. Here's my plan." I ran my finger over the sidewalk as I talked. "I'll go around to the kitchen door and pop it open. If either of you senses anything I miss on the way there, we take it out before it can warn its master. Once we're inside, we get to the main room as quickly as we can. I suspect that's where the enemy is set up. Claws and teeth ready? Let's go."

The three of us crept around the end of the wall and into the yard. As we crossed the boundary, I suddenly felt like impersonating Buckaroo Banzai (You know, "Evil! Pure and simple! From the Eight Dimension!"). The cats felt it as strongly as I did. Their fur stood up so abruptly it was as if they'd been puffed like popcorn.

We stopped together to reorient ourselves, and realized the house wasn't anything like it had appeared from the street. In fact, there wasn't a house. The sky had darkened, the ground was clear of snow, and the air around us was whipping like the leading edge of a hurricane. In the center of the space where a house had appeared was a glowing circle on the ground, with a man levitating beside it, his back to us. I slid my walking stick apart, forming a matched pair of fighting batons tipped with 12" chisel-point blades.

As we crept toward our target, he rotated to face us. You know, I really hate it when someone with glowing red eyes glares at you. I'd been irritated before - demons offend my sensibilities - but this just topped it all off. With a snarl, I charged him. He looked honestly surprised. What else was I supposed to do? Cower in fear? Hell, I'd already died once this week; why should I worry about dying again? That was the worst he could possibly do to me.

"You're not one of the Sailor-brats. Dark Fate! Deal with him!"

A creature appeared between me and the enemy. It stood about eight feet tall and had obviously once been a human girl. It had wavy red hair that wasn't quite shoulder length, and it looked as if its eyes might have been blue under the fiery glow. From nowhere, it produced a pack of cards and peeled one off the top. I had a gut feeling that if I could eliminate the enemy, the girl would revert to her natural appearance, so when she drew her hand back to throw, I dove past her, hit the ground rolling, and came up with both blades leading - right into the enemy's belly. He looked down at me in surprise and faded like a Cheshire Cat, snarling, "I'll be back."

Behind me, the creature collapsed, and Luna gasped, "Naru?"

I turned to look, and saw a cute girl, about the same age as the Senshi, with wavy red hair held away from her face with a blue ribbon. She wasn't beautiful the way the Senshi were; she was more the kind of girl you'd love to have as a little sister.

"You know her?" I was as surprised by Luna's reaction as she apparently was by the girl's presence.

"She's Usagi's friend. She seems to be fated to be used by the enemy, no matter who or what it is." Luna sounded resigned; maybe even a little sad.

I crouched and scooped Naru up. "Would one of you call them and tell them I'll be at the shrine? I think she might need Rei or Usagi to make sure there aren't any lingering effects of what was done to her."

Artemis did a backflip and one of those pocket Rolodex things appeared in mid-air. He pawed it open and started pushing buttons as I carried the girl - Naru - toward the shrine.

"You could have been killed!" Sailor Mercury was livid. She had me backed into a corner and was screaming into my face from inches away. "Did you think of that?"

"Yes, angel, I did." I tried to keep my voice as soothing and gentle as I could. Demons and evil mages, I could face. An angry Sailor Mercury, on the other hand, hurt. A lot. "I thought of how you could get killed, too."

"But that's one of the risks of what we do! I'm Sailor Mercury! It's my job to risk death for the sake of the world." She was on the verge of tears. I reached out and touched her gently, encouraging her to move closer so I could hold her.

"It's what I do, too, sweetheart. It has been for, oh, the last three or four thousand years." I didn't know why I'd said that, but I knew it was true. It was why I wasn't - and never would be - a priest. My calling was to take the battle to the enemy, not stay in the temple and perform the rites.

Sailor Mercury looked at me in shock, silenced by what I'd said. I tugged her to my chest and held her close, murmuring softly into her ear until she relaxed against me.

Sailor Pluto nodded and commented, to nobody in particular, "He's remembering. Good."

Sailor Uranus shot a glare at her and snarled softly, "You could have told me."

"It was more important for him to do what he did. You needed to learn to trust him on your own." Sailor Pluto can be annoying with her smugness. If she knew what I had been, why hadn't she bothered to tell me?

"You needed to remember on your own," Sailor Pluto said, with that same smug smile. "There's a lot more for you to remember, so don't be surprised when the next few months are confusing."

"When, not if. Thanks for the reassurance."

Sailor Pluto just shrugged.

"Bill? Do you really have to fight?" Sailor Mercury whispered against my chest. I looked down and kissed the top of her head, wishing I could ease her pain.

"I'm afraid I do, angel. Back in Khem, I was a demon hunter. My job was to hunt down and destroy any demons or evil mages who dared to threaten our land. That's why Rei thought I was a priest." I brushed Mercury's hair back and looked into her eyes as she raised her head with a brave smile.

"And you did it without being one of us? That's wonderful." Her voice dropped to a whisper as her courage failed her for a moment. "But scary. What if I lose you, now that I've found you?"

"Then we'll find each other again, in another life. Now that we're together, I promise I'll always find my way back to you, no matter where or when." I lowered myself to her and met her lips as she stretched to reach me.

On the other side of the fire, Rei and Sailor Moon were trying to revive Naru. Her lack of response reminded me of someone whose life had been drained by a vampiric demon. Rei had made sure she wasn't possessed, and Sailor Moon was shaking her and yelling at her to try and wake her.

"Sailor Mercury? Can you analyze Naru? I can't help but think her life's been drained."

She nodded and looked at Naru through her visor.

"Sailor Moon! Let her be! Her energy's been drained. We have to find a way to restore it or she'll never wake up." The way Sailor Mercury's voice quavered, it was obvious Usagi wasn't Naru's only friend.

"Rei? Is there a priest or priestess around here with more power than you?" I'd seen the look of despair on Rei's face when Mercury had called out. "It's either that or let Sailor Moon use the crystal."

"Well, there's my grandfather...if he's not out chasing skirts." Rei sounded uncertain. He must have been the old pervert I'd seen the full-page ad warning against.

"It will take more than me to do it," Sailor Moon said. "I'll need help from all of you if we're to save her. If Chibi-Usa were here..." The heavy sigh made it clear she missed Chibi-Usa, whoever that was. Tuxedo Kamen wrapped his arms around her and murmured gently to her, causing her to raise her head and look tearfully into his eyes, a smile slowly lighting up her face like a perfect sunrise.

Sailor Mercury kissed me and slipped out of my arms to join the other Senshi in a circle around Sailor Moon. Even Rei transformed back to Sailor Mars so she could join the circle. Sailor Moon gently lowered Naru back to the floor and held her hands in front of her chest, as if cradling something. Her brooch opened, and the crystal floated out to hover between her hands. The light coming from it was brighter than the sun, yet not painful. The Senshi each called out their henshin, and the room felt as if it were a dam, holding back enough energy to swamp the world. The crystal glowed brighter, then a single beam of light stabbed down like a laser through Naru's chest. Her whole body glowed, and as the glow faded she whimpered.

"All right, everyone out before she wakes," Sailor Mars barked, then transformed back to Rei. "I'll take care of her from here. Not you, Bill. She'll need a believable explanation of how she got here. You're it."

I nodded and moved to catch Sailor Mercury before she could leave. With a quick kiss, I told her I'd left the balcony door open so she could get into the hotel room without drawing attention. She laughed and joined the exodus, glancing backward to see me watching her leave.

"If you love her as much as she loves you, you'll make her as happy as Usagi. I'd like that." Rei bustled around Naru, covering her with a blanket and adjusting a pillow under her head. Naru tossed and cried, apparently caught in a nightmare.

"I don't know if I love her that much. I don't know if it's possible to love as much as she does." I sighed happily at the memory of her eyes on me as she left. "She has more love in her than I'd thought possible for anyone human to carry."

Rei chuckled softly, jolting me out of the reverie I'd fallen into.

"Just remember, pedestals can fall - and they don't give the person standing on them much room to be human. If you love Ami as much as you love the image of her in your heart, I'll be satisfied."

I ducked my head, turning crimson with embarrassment. She'd nailed me there. I was definitely in danger of putting Ami on a pedestal high enough to have her breathing vacuum.

Naru suddenly sat up, screaming. Rei knelt beside her and rocked her in her arms as she sobbed. I poured a cup of tea from a pot Rei had set near the fire when we'd arrived and offered it to her. Rei smiled and took it from me, then held it so Naru could drink.

"It was horrible...I can't take this any more...why can't Usagi stop them before?" She looked up at Rei and repeated her question, this time in a scream. "WHY CAN'T USAGI STOP THEM?"

"I can't stop them until I know they're there, Naru." Usagi's voice, from the doorway, surprised both of us. Naru screamed at Usagi, her cries becoming quickly incoherent - but not too quickly for us to realize she'd figured out that Usagi was Sailor Moon.

Usagi moved in and knelt beside Naru, took her from Rei's arms, and rocked her gently.

"I'm sorry, Naru. I wish there were some way I could stop them before they come, but that would require me to see the future, and I can't do that." Usagi's eyes were filled with tears over Naru's pain.

**Can I do anything, Lord?**

**That's why you're there. She'll recognize you shortly.**

**I was thinking more long-term.**

**Trust your instincts. The more you do, the better you'll get.**

I took Naru's cup from Rei's hands and refilled it. As I knelt to return it, Naru's eyes opened and she saw me.

"Who are you? Why didn't you kill me?" The despair in her voice cut into me like a rusty knife. Nobody should ever feel that.

"I didn't kill you because you're innocent." I looked into her eyes and smiled as hopefully as I could. "I knew that if I could get rid of him, it would free you."

"But he's not gone! I can feel him still out there!" She sobbed brokenly and clutched Usagi. "He's going to come back for me. I know it. I don't want to go through that again. I'd rather die!"

I offered Naru the cup and murmured gently, "How about I make you a promise, Naru? If he comes back and it happens again, I'll kill you. Will that help?"

"You promise?" Naru's voice and expression showed the first hope it had since she'd awakened. "Please?"

I took a deep breath, clenched my jaw, nodded, and held out my right hand, little finger extended. She looked at my hand, then into my eyes, then at Usagi, then back to my hand again. She reached out with her right hand and hooked her little finger around mine. "Thank you." With that, she collapsed against Usagi and closed her eyes. Usagi kissed her forehead and gently lowered her to the pillow.

I let out my breath and murmured, "Now we just have to make sure I don't have to keep the promise." I looked at Rei and Usagi. "She'll be ok here?" When Rei nodded, I murmured, "I'm going back to my hotel room and see what Ami and I can come up with. Where's Artemis?"

"He's with Minako. Do you need anything from us?" Usagi's offer was so open and trusting it brought tears to my eyes. It was obvious the Princess was growing up to be a Queen. I shook my head and rose to my feet.

"If I think of anything, I'll tell Ami. Thank you. Both of you."

As I left the shrine, I thought I heard Rei say something to Usagi.

"You promised what?" Ami was too shocked to raise her voice. She looked at me as if I'd just slapped her.

"I promised her that if the enemy returns and turns her into a monster again, I'll kill her. I don't know how many times she's been victimized before, but she was on the verge of killing herself out of despair. I came back as soon as I made the promise, so that you and I and Artemis could find a way to keep that from happening."

Ami bit her lip and nodded. When I held out my hands, she moved to take them and snuggled against my chest. As I wrapped my arms around her, I felt her tears soaking through my shirt.

"Angel?"

"I'm not brave enough to be an angel." She rubbed her face against me and sniffled. "I couldn't have made her that promise. I couldn't carry it through if I did."

"I'm not sure I'm brave enough, either. That's why I want to find a way to save her." I looked down into her eyes and smiled tiredly. "Can we do it, sweetheart?"

"We can sure try. The data from my visor should tell us something."

Her look of determination recharged my flagging energy. I hugged her and moved to the telephone to call room service. Once I was sure we had a stack of sandwiches coming up, I started the room's hotpot and dug my personal stash of tea out of my overnight bag. At the table, Ami had networked her computer with mine and was tapping away on her keyboard.

When room service showed up with our sandwiches, she grinned and dug in. The way she tore into them reminded me of Usagi at the ice cream parlor. I laughed softly and blew her a kiss.

"You like sandwiches, don't you?"

She blushed and nodded around a mouthful of roast beef and cheddar cheese. I grinned and reached out to swipe a bit of mustard from her lips, then returned to my work, using her network connection to search through any demonology references I could find online. Unfortunately, most of what I would find most useful didn't exist online. I did find a reference to a collection of texts at a temple in Tokyo - I'd have to ask Rei for help getting at those.

"There! I've programmed my visor to scan for the energy that was infecting Naru. If there's any of it around, I'll see it." Ami sat back with a sigh and the tired smile of a satisfied hacker.

"Great! I'll ask Artemis to start a general scan. Maybe we can find them before they start causing trouble." I fired off a message to Artemis, who was working in parallel with us on Minako's computer. That done, I pulled up one of my working circuit simulations and made some modifications based on ideas that had started percolating in my mind after watching the Senshi pulling their objects out of mid-air. I left the simulation running and moved around the table to squeeze Ami gently. "Now...how'd you like to see Gojiro stomp New York?"

"Gojiro? But...you're kidding, right?" She smiled up at me.

"Nope. No joke. I noticed an ad in the paper before I went to the Tower yesterday. It's a fun movie. It's as good as some of the old Toho flicks, but with better special effects. Other than that, it has absolutely no redeeming features." I grinned at her.

"No redeeming features? That sounds like a day with Usagi," Ami laughed. "Sure, let's go."

She shut down her computer and tucked it away in her extradimensional pocket, then rose into my arms and purred happily. I nuzzled her and whispered, "My angel."

She smiled up at me, so beautiful I had to kiss her before I slid my walking stick into its hidden pocket in the lining of my trench coat. We slipped our shoes on and headed out for the evening.

"Poor Phillipe! He never did get a decent cup of coffee, did he?" Ami laughed and danced across the park, turning pirouettes under the stars. I laughed and followed her, hoping we'd find a nice secluded spot to stop for a while.

"No, he never did. Then again, I always thought French Roast tasted like charcoal anyway, even when I did drink coffee." I laughed and caught up with her as we came to a bridge over a pond in the middle of the park. At the top of the bridge, I caught her hand, then caught her as she spun into my arms with a happy laugh. Mist rose around us from the water below; it reminded me of the heated water of Lake Wisconsin. The only ice, even in the dead of winter, was at the far end of the pond, where it curved to form a small pool, separate from the main body of water.

"I've never done anything like this before! It's as if something inside me has broken free and wants to experience all the things I've never had time for before." She giggled and tossed the last of her popcorn at the swans below us.

"I'd like to be with you every step of the way, Ami. Forever." My heart felt as if it were about to burst from my chest and fly away as I held her close. She looked up at me with glistening eyes and nodded.

"I'd like that, too." She looked up at me seriously and murmured, "You know my life isn't going to be my own for at least the next six or seven years. Will that be a problem?"

"Only if you don't let me share it with you." I gently brushed her hair back with my fingertips and smiled. "Sweetheart, as long as I'm with you, I can face anything - from stuffy professors to tentacle demons."

She laughed and batted my chest. "You're bad! Of course I want you to share it with me! I want you to share all of it." She sighed happily and snuggled closer, turning a little so she could look out over the pond and watch the swans competing for the popcorn that hadn't already sunk to the bottom.

Her communicator beeped, and I let her go with a quiet sigh. The problem with being a hero is that the bad guys never pick a good time to make trouble. It's always when you're doing something you'd much rather be doing - like sharing a quiet moment with the one you love.

Artemis' voice came out of the communicator.

"Ami! I'm picking up an enormous amount of that new energy, very close to where you are right now. I'm sending the rest to meet you. Be careful."

"How close, Artemis? Which direction?"

"The reading is so high, all I can tell is that it's within one kilometer north of you."

"I understand. We'll be careful."

"We?"

"I'm with her, Artemis. Tell the others to hurry, will you? It's getting big enough for me to sense it. Either that or it's getting closer."

"Will do."

I nuzzled Ami's hair and stepped away so she could transform. My walking stick came out of its pocket in my trenchcoat, and I separated it in preparation for whatever might be coming.

When it arrived, it let us know - by coming up through the bridge, throwing Sailor Mercury to one side of the pond while throwing me to the other. I hit and rolled, coming up in the middle of some rose bushes. Good thing I had my trenchcoat on - I hate getting scratched by thorns. I looked up at the demon and groaned. Great. The thing looked like a damned sandworm. If it was designed like one, all we could do was keep it busy until Sailor Moon arrived to destroy it.

A blast of ice from Mercury's side of the pond confirmed that she was still in action, so I held back to watch. Her blast didn't cover the entire creature. As soon as her next blast hit it, I made my move. The bridge arched up enough to give me a launch pad; when I hit the side of the demon, I shoved the tips of my blades under the edge of one of its segments. It went ballistic.

I held on until I felt my blades starting to come loose, then kicked free and tumbled into the smaller pool, breaking through about three inches of ice and sinking about four feet before I hit bottom. As I fell, I saw Sailor Saturn's glaive sink into the thing in the same spot where I'd impaled it. A moment later, Sailor Uranus' sword sank into it just a few feet away. They both screamed out something I couldn't hear over the demon's roaring, but I assumed were their attacks; the demon began leaking light from all its segments, like a ship that had just had a direct hit on its magazine. I prepared to dive back beneath the surface of the pond, and then Sailor Moon was there, aiming her scepter at the thing. A torrent of moonbeams flowed over the demon, and it vanished like a foul mist.

I reassembled my walking stick and tucked it away, then trudged to shore near Mercury. The other Senshi were congregating there, so I stood back a few feet to shiver while they talked and compared notes.

"That was a brilliant idea, Bill. If I hadn't seen what you were doing, it would have taken longer to stop it." Sailor Saturn smiled and leaned on her glaive as she offered her thanks.

"It looked like a sandworm, so I thought I'd try treating it like one. I'm glad I was able to hold on long enough for one of you to see what I was doing. I knew you and Sailor Uranus were the only ones with weapons that could duplicate it."

"It was still a big risk." Sailor Uranus looked at me severely from where she had moved to stand behind Sailor Saturn. "If we hadn't arrived as quickly as we did..."

"I'd have had to do it again. Sailor Mercury was doing an excellent job of distracting it, and if it had been a real sandworm, her attacks would have been devastating. But my instincts told me the only way to really hurt it was to get inside. And there was no way in Hell I was going to dive down its throat." I laughed.

Sailor Uranus looked at me thoughtfully, then nodded. I saw the glimmer of an approving smile in her eyes, though.

"Ewww! Down its throat? That sounds disgusting!" Sailor Moon chimed in from behind me. "I hate slime!"

"Yeah, well that's because your hair would never come clean!" Sailor Mars shouted. I laughed as the two of them started bickering.

"Are they always like this?" I asked Saturn and Uranus. "They sound like sisters."

"Oh, sometimes they're worse," Sailor Mercury said, slipping her arms around me from behind. "We all know how much they love each other, though, so we usually tolerate it."

"When we can't get away," Sailor Uranus added dryly. I chuckled as Sailor Neptune joined her and the two of them slipped away, followed shortly by Sailor Saturn.

I turned to face Sailor Mercury and hugged her gently. "So what's the plan now, angel? Back to the shrine, or back to the hotel?"

Sailor Mercury looked at the other Senshi and thought a minute, then smiled. "Back to the hotel?"

I laughed and kissed her, then stepped back so she could transform.


	4. Sailor Pluto Takes a Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting Hino-Sensei, and lunch with Ami, Mako, and Usagi. Meanwhile, Setsuna keeps plotting and dropping hints.

When Ami and I returned to my room, a package was sitting on the table beside my computer. I picked it up and cocked an eyebrow, then handed it to her. The tag on the package had been addressed to Ami, from Sailor Pluto. She looked surprised, and was about to set it down when she flipped the tag over and laughed. On the back of the tag, in Sailor Pluto's elegant - almost Spencerian - script, were two words: Open Now.

Ami worked the package open, as careful with it as she was with her programming. Inside was a bundle of royal blue satin, which unfolded into a teddy when she picked it up. The blush on her cheeks was so beautiful, I couldn't resist pressing my fingers to her lips and whispering, "I love you" when she looked up at me.

"But why is it from Sailor Pluto, instead of Setsuna?" Ami puzzled over that, obviously trying to approach the question logically. The answer seemed intuitively obvious to me: it was important for Ami to stay here tonight.

"Maybe because she sees something that requires you to be here with me?" I smiled and looked into her eyes. "She couldn't say it directly; that would break the rules. But if we drew the conclusion ourselves..."

"She'd have given us the same benefit as if she had told us, without breaking the rules." Ami's smile lit up the room and she threw her arms around me. "Don't go anywhere, ok?"

"I'll stay right here, angel. I promise." Ami was already dashing for the bathroom as I spoke, so I sat in front of my computer, dripping on the floor, to see how my simulation was running. The simulated circuits were working much better than I'd expected. In fact, the difference was as great as if I'd tried running a neural network simulation intended for a PC on a Cray. If I could get the materials and build the circuits, instead of just simulating them, it would give us all an incredible advantage. I saved the simulation and closed the computer, looking up just as Ami stepped out of the bathroom wearing the teddy.

My breath caught in my throat, and my ears roared like storm surf. I'd thought she was beautiful nude, but Sailor Pluto's gift had been designed to emphasize her beauty beyond anything I'd imagined was possible. I raised a hand to her, tears filling my eyes as I realized once again just how much I loved her. She crossed the room and took my hand, looking for validation in my gaze.

"Do I look all right?" she whispered uncertainly.

"Beautiful ...," I managed to whisper as I gripped her hand and gently tugged her closer. "So beautiful..."

Ami purred and snuggled against me for a minute, then began tugging at my shirt.

Amazingly enough, I'd awakened and managed to slip out of bed before Ami, and was performing my morning rite before my shrine - I carry a few basics with me whenever I travel - when I felt her eyes on me. Since I'd missed the day before, I didn't let her presence hurry me. When I blew out the candle after meditating, I knew that today was going to be especially important - for both of us.

I turned to face the bed, and she smiled up at me while extending a hand in invitation. I chuckled and sat on the bed beside her, taking her hand and holding it to my heart. She sighed happily and pressed a kiss against my lips with her fingers.

"I'm the happiest girl alive." Her eyes sparkled as she spoke, speeding my heart.

"Happier than Usagi or Michiru, even?" I smiled as I teased her.

"Mmm...yes." She stretched, arching her back as the covers slid down her body and revealed the beauty of her form, then sat up to wrap her arms around me. "So what will we do today?"

"That depends on when your class is, doesn't it?" I smiled and cradled her against my chest.

"Mmm...I have three classes today. One at ten, one at one, and one at four."

"In that case, I think a nice long shower, some breakfast, and a pleasant walk to campus are in order for this morning. We'll have lunch together, then I'll meet you at the shrine after your last class. How's that?"

"Sounds wonderful...eek!" she squealed as I scooped her up and carried her to the bathroom.

Once I'd stood her on her feet, I returned to the main room to root around in my overnight bag for the shampoo and conditioner I'd brought with me. I always carry some, in case the hotel doesn't have any I can safely use. This hotel did, so I'd saved my supply for something special - and it doesn't get any more special than Ami.

"I'd like to congratulate you before everyone else shows up," Sailor Pluto's voice said from behind me. I froze; turning around to speak with her would be very embarrassing at the moment.

"Congratulate me? Shows up? What's going on?" It's amazing how mysterious that woman can be when she wants to...

"On your engagement. And your daughter. You'll both make wonderful parents - and it won't interfere with Ami's schooling. Or her ability to fight." She anticipated the two worries that immediately came to mind. I turned to face her, too surprised to remember I was naked.

"Our daughter? But...I'm sterile. That's why..." my voice trailed off as a thought came to mind.

"You mean, you were sterile," Sailor Pluto said with a knowing smile. "That was only a problem before you died."

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came. Sailor Pluto, still smiling that knowing smile, stepped back into the shadows and vanished.

"Bill? Are you ok?" Ami stepped out of the bathroom with a worried look on her face. I took a deep breath and smiled weakly at her.

"I'm just fine, Angel." I waved my shampoo and conditioner in her direction and moved to join her. "Just had to dig a little to find these."

"Are you sure?" Ami hugged me gently. "You look as if you've seen a ghost."

I had to laugh. The idea of a ghost giving me the look of shock that was on my face was just too funny. Ami scowled at me for a moment, then realized what the joke was and joined in. Both of us laughed until we slid down the wall and landed on the floor, which triggered another bout of laughter.

Finally, we managed to control ourselves enough to stumble into the shower. The feeling of washing Ami's hair for her was...how do you describe the pleasure of bathing someone you love? The only way to understand it is to experience it yourself.

Ami knew a restaurant between the hotel and campus that was good enough to carry Makoto's recommendation. A quick check in the phone book told us it was open for breakfast, so after we dressed - and she transformed to Sailor Mercury and back, freshening her outfit - we departed, hand in hand, to enjoy a nice pleasant breakfast.

I left Ami at the door to her classroom, with a deep and hungry kiss that promised her I'd be waiting for her when her class ended. Several of her classmates pushed past us with shocked expressions. She blushed happily as she entered the room, and I slipped away through the crowd.

My first stop after leaving Ami was at the shrine, to talk with Rei's grandfather. He wasn't nearly as bad as I'd expected. His skirt chasing was obviously an attempt to stave off old age, and he could kick my butt around the training floor six falls out of ten. I arranged for regular training sessions with him, then he demonstrated his own perceptiveness.

"You're the one who promised to kill Naru if she gets possessed again. I wouldn't have expected that from an American."

"I've been dead. Given the choice between that and what happened to her, I'd rather be. But I'd rather by far find the bastard who's responsible for what happened to her and make him dead, instead."

"You have a good chance of it. You have the aura of a ninja. If Rei and her friends can't destroy him, I think you have a good chance of doing it."

"Rei and her friends?" I raised an eyebrow. Somehow, I got the feeling Rei's secret life wasn't nearly as secret to her grandfather as she'd like it to be.

"The Senshi. You've fought with them already." His eyes twinkled with pride and love.

"You know she's going to be upset if she realizes you know."

"That's why I haven't told her. And that's why you won't tell her." He chuckled and fetched tea for both of us. Once it was poured, he rejoined me by the fire. "The fire told me you'd be coming this morning. And that your reason was only indirectly related to the Senshi."

I had to smile and nod, thinking of Ami. He caught my expression and chuckled, then offered a blessing. Hey, I'm not proud. I'll take blessings from anyone of good will.

"Could it be that your mission has to do with an impending marriage? Perhaps to a certain ice princess?"

"She's not icy when you get to know her," I shot back without thinking, then blushed as he laughed warmly. "OK, you got me. Yes, I'd like you to marry us, so that Rei can be one of her maidens. I know it's a bad time of year for marriage, but-"

"Think nothing of it. There's no such thing as a bad time of year for marriage."

He looked into the fire for a minute, then smiled and nodded. "I suggest a marriage on April 1. That's a little less than eight weeks from now."

"I suppose it'll take that long to make all the arrangements - especially when it comes to some of the guests that might show up." I smiled and bowed my head. "Now I need to find a jeweler so I can buy her a ring."

"Hold on a moment, I have a jeweler's card. He makes the jewelry we bless here." Grandfather scuttled into the house and returned a minute later with a business card. "Here you go. Tell him I sent you and you'll get a better deal."

"Thank you, Grandfather." I stood and bowed, moments before my watch beeped. "Sorry. That's my warning I need to head to campus in order to meet Ami."

"Happy to help." He smiled and raised his voice just enough to carry through the walls of the shrine. "Now if only Yuuichiro had the gumption to do the same for my granddaughter..."

We heard a thumping noise and a crash from outside. Grandfather laughed.

"Actually, I know he's asked, but Rei's afraid he'll get hurt because of who she is, so she won't answer him." He sighed. "Maybe I need to have a talk with her."

"I suggest wearing some armor if you do." We laughed together, in total agreement over Rei's temper.

The door to Ami's classroom was just swinging open as I slid to a stop in the hall outside. A number of the students gave me curious looks as they escaped their confinement - and startled looks when I caught a flying Ami in my arms.

"Mmm...so where should we go for lunch, my love?" I asked her, when we came up for air.

"I know what I want...but we don't have time for that," she purred, nuzzling me. "I know a great sandwich place just off campus. We can get a bag and sit in their sun room."

"That sounds like a winning proposition to me." I kissed her and chuckled softly at the crowd watching us. "So are you going to introduce your classmates, angel? Or would you rather try to do it as we walk?"

Ami turned her head, saw the crowd, and squeaked, doing her best ostrich impression. I laughed and snuggled her, looked at the others, and bowed as best I could with my love hiding under my arm.

"Good afternoon. My name is Fred MacManus." Ami surreptitiously punched my side; I smiled and waited.

"Fred MacManus? But he's a fictional character!"

"I know. I created him."

"You did? You mean, you're-?"

"That's right. I am. And now that Ami and I have finally met in person, I love her even more than I did when I only knew her from her email." I looked down at my angel and gently ruffled her hair. "Shall we get lunch, Angel?"

Ami nodded and glanced out at the crowd, then ducked her head against me again. She really was shy about expressing her emotions. I smiled and nodded to the students as I led Ami out of the building.

We were half way to the sandwich shop when we ran into Usagi and Makoto, who was carrying a picnic basket. Usagi waved, shrieking excitedly, until we joined them. I glanced around and noticed nobody else within a good thirty yards.

"Hello, Princess," I bowed, with a teasing smile. "Did I detect a royal summons being made?"

Ami and Makoto giggled, while Usagi did her best to look regal and dignified - a look she could pull off with a little more experience in controlling her bubbly personality, I think.

"You did indeed." She didn't make it any farther than that; her good humor took over and she bounced a bun off my forehead. "Gotcha!"

I reached up and wiped a little frosting off my forehead, then tasted it. "Say, that's good. I've never been able to get cream cheese frosting to work. You're going to have to teach me, Makoto."

"It's really easy. The next time we have a meeting at my place, remind me and I'll show you how." Makoto smiled. I guessed she was so used to hearing compliments from the rest that having a new voice chime in and say something about her cooking was a treat.

Usagi laughed and led us to another one of the school's buildings, where she tugged us into a private dining room and locked the door behind us.

"There! Now nobody can disturb us!" I wondered if she ever did anything by halves - then decided she just wouldn't be Usagi if she did.

Ami opposite Usagi and Makoto, then tugged me down beside her. I had to laugh. Makoto was unpacking six bento boxes and several different varieties of pastries - including a dozen sticky buns like the one Usagi had hit me with.

"Let me guess...three boxes for Usagi and one each for the rest of us?" I grinned as Usagi paused to stick her tongue out at me before picking up one of the boxes.

"That's right. We guessed you'd be meeting Ami for lunch, and wanted a chance to catch both of you before this afternoon." Makoto smiled, a warm smile that reached all the way to her toes. Some people are just made to be friends; Makoto's one of them.

"How did you know we'd be walking that way?" Ami asked.

"It's the shortest way to the sandwich shop," Usagi laughed. "With three classes today, I knew you'd want to fuel up, not just nibble on something while enjoying the company."

Ami blushed and ducked her head. I smiled and nodded to Usagi. She's a lot more perceptive than she pretends to be. Or maybe that's a lot more perceptive than she appears. If she weren't such a pure heart, she could be dangerous.

"So what are your plans now?" Makoto asked, passing a box to each of us. "You're not going back to America, are you?"

"Not if I can weasel a resident visa out of the authorities. I was thinking about looking for a house this week. Some place big enough to allow a lab, a study space, and a meeting space. Know any abandoned temples?" I grinned.

"No, I don't think so," Makoto murmured thoughtfully. "I suppose you'd prefer someplace in the country, right?"

"As a matter of fact, I would. But if I bought one, I'd keep it as a place to go for special times, as long as Ami's in school. Of course, if I bought a place in the country, what I'd really want is an onsen."

"You would?" Usagi squealed excitedly. "I thought Americans didn't go in for that."

"Well, I'm a little weird for an American, wouldn't you say?" I chuckled as she nodded, blushed, and smiled radiantly when she realized I wasn't upset. "I've always loved a good hot soak...not just in this lifetime, but as far back as I can remember. I drove my servants crazy in Khem. I'd had my house built with a tub big enough to float in, and insisted on soaking in water as hot as I could stand whenever I came home after a hunt."

"Why would that drive them crazy? It sounds perfectly reasonable to me." Usagi was honestly confused. I chuckled and smiled before answering.

"To most people, hot water was for washing or cooking with. If you wanted to bathe, you'd just soak in a pool, lake, or the river. At whatever temperature it happened to be. That was part of what kept me from being a priest, at first. Cold baths, twice a day, just didn't suit me. If they'd been hot..." I laughed at the thought that such a little thing could affect the choices I'd made so long ago; the choices that had set me on the course that had brought me to Ami's side.

"You mean, you'd have been a priest instead of a demon hunter if the baths had been hot?" Usagi looked frankly disbelieving.

"Probably not," I laughed. "I'm way too into hands-on approaches to problems. You see, I firmly believe God put us on this world to do things, not just watch as things happen. While it's important to perform the rites that keep us in communion with them, it's just as important to be out in the world and acting as their hands."

All three nodded in agreement, with a puzzled look on Makoto's face.

"I'm not sure I heard you right...you said God, and them?"

"No, you heard me right. You see, in my faith, there is one God - but because humans aren't infinite, God takes on many faces so that we can approach understanding of at least a small part. The face of God that guides and teaches you is kind of like a parent: loving, understanding, sometimes giving you a good spanking..." I smiled and took a bite of shrimp.

"And which face is your parent?" Usagi asked. She was so interested, she'd actually forgotten she had a third box sitting in front of her untouched. I smiled and looked at Ami.

"Do you think you can pull up a picture on your computer, Angel?"

She pulled out her computer and began tapping, then grumbled. I looked over her shoulder and saw that the picture she'd pulled up had been from an annoying anime known in America as Ronin Warriors. I reached over her shoulder and typed in kemet.org while kissing the back of her neck. Once the site came up, she quickly found her way to the picture gallery, and had a picture of Ienpw on the screen. She passed the computer to Usagi, who took it carefully so she wouldn't accidentally hit a key. Not that it mattered, because as soon as she saw the picture, she eeked and dropped the computer.

"Usagi?" all three of us asked in unison. She was shivering as she looked at the picture, then looked up at me with wide eyes.

"He's your parent?" She bowed - very low. My jaw dropped; no way should the Princess be bowing to me. I'm just a simple demon hunter, not any kind of royalty.

"Usagi?" My voice sounded small and unsteady - at least, to me it did.

"I remember."

Makoto picked up the computer and eeked the same way Usagi had, then looked at me with eyes just as wide. I felt around on my forehead and looked at Ami. "Did I just grow a horn out of my forehead or something?"

"No, my love." She reached up and pulled me down for a kiss before continuing. "They're just remembering what I remembered this morning when I watched you pray."

"Ok...so what is it you remembered that I don't?"

"What we remember is seeing Him grant Queen Serenity an audience, and tell us all that one of His children would always be our friend and companion."

"Queen Serenity?" OK, so I was a little confused. I called Usagi "Princess", because it felt right. I didn't know then just how right it was...

Between the three of them, they explained who Queen Serenity was, why they existed in this time, and what they understood of what the future held for us all.

**This certainly wasn't in the briefing, Lord. I sure don't remember any of this.**

**I knew they'd tell you as soon as their memories of it returned. You don't remember because you weren't there. My child who was, was Haruka and Michiru's lover. She helped them watch the outer reaches, to stop invaders before they got close enough to threaten the Earth.**

**What about this Crystal Tokyo thing?**

**A probability. The most likely, and one of the least offensive of all the possible paths the future could take.**

**And that's why I've been brought here?**

**That's right. You are the promised companion for this generation. You are to help ensure the future happens as they remember it.**

I took a deep breath and hugged Ami while trying to wrap my mind around what my Lord had told me.

"I wasn't there. The one who was...I don't know her name, but she was Haruka and Michiru's lover. I'm the appointed one for this generation."

All three of them smiled and nodded. Ami kissed me happily while Usagi and Makoto looked on.

"My job isn't to be a protector, like Tuxedo Kamen. I'm to be your friend, your companion, and to help ensure that Crystal Tokyo happens." I looked down at Ami and smiled, lost in the beauty of her gaze. "Anything else that happens is up to us."

Suddenly, an image floated in my mind; an image of a molecule like I'd never seen before.

"Ami? Can I borrow your computer for a minute? I need to note something down before I forget it."

Ami took her computer back from Makoto and cleared the screen before handing it to me. I began typing furiously, keying in the image of the molecule and the formulae that came to mind as I concentrated on it. After ten minutes, I finally stopped typing and saved the file for transfer to my computer later.

"Thanks, Angel. I'll transfer it when we can get to my computer." I flexed my fingers to work the cramps out before devouring a little more lunch.

"What is it, Bill? You looked as if you were in a trance." Ami sounded worried. I smiled and hugged her gently.

"I think it's the formula for MacManusite. It's about what I'd imagined - a hyperdimensional plastic based on Lexan and diamonds."

"The material Laputa's made out of?" Ami asked, disbelieving.

"That's right. I'm going to have to experiment with it to see if it is everything I think it is, but if it is..." My voice trailed off as I saw Usagi and Makoto looking at us with that glazed expression ordinary people get around people who are geeking.

"Sorry. Imagine a plastic that's stronger than diamonds and can be worked into any form you care to imagine, from fabric to solid masses - and any color you care to imagine, from transparent crystal to deep matte black."

"Transparent crystal?" Usagi looked at me with a hopeful expression. Makoto and Ami caught that look and gasped, then turned the same hopeful gaze on me.

"That's right. And if I can figure out the matrices, the plastic can have electronics coded right into its molecular structure, so you could have..." I realized why they were staring so hopefully at me and nodded slowly. "I think so. If Mamoru and Ami help me with the experiments, we could have it ready for building in plenty of time." I looked at Usagi and smiled. "We could even have your home ready before Chibi-Usa is born."

If anyone ever asks me if there's anything more dangerous than demons, I'll have an answer for them. A happy blonde, throwing herself at you with unrestrained excitement, is infinitely more dangerous. Why? Because she's cute, she's lovable, she's unrestrained, and she almost brained me when the impact knocked me over.

While I was recovering, with an excited Usagi planting happy kisses on my face, Ami's watch began beeping. Makoto and Usagi jumped as if it were a communicator beep, but Ami just switched it off with a slightly sad smile.

"It's time for my next class. You'll keep Bill busy while I'm gone, right?"

"Of course! We have to interro...I mean, we have to find out all about him!" Usagi giggled and tried to look mean at me. Naturally, she failed miserably. She couldn't look mean if her life depended on it.

Ami laughed, came to me for a lingering kiss, and whispered, "I'll see you at the shrine, my love."

"I'll be waiting for you, Angel," I answered and kissed her hands before she got fully away from me.

Once she had left the room, I reached into my pocket for the business card Grandfather had given me; when I pulled it out, it had a sheet of paper wrapped around it. I guess I looked confused, because both Usagi and Makoto asked what was wrong. I unfolded the paper and laughed, then showed it to them.

"That woman is sneaky! I think I'm falling in love all over again." I grinned as they started, then joined me in laughter when they realized I didn't mean it in the same way I love Ami.

"Yes, she is," Usagi agreed, examining the paper on which Setsuna had written all of Ami's important data, from birth date to ring size. "I wonder why she thinks you need to know all this?" Her smile said she knew exactly why - or thought she did.

"I detect an impending shopping trip, don't you?" Makoto asked Usagi with a playful grin as she gathered the remains of lunch.

Usagi laughed and nodded, her ponytails flying like buggy whips with her enthusiasm. I had to join in the laughter. I swear, these women are so easy to love, it was as if I'd suddenly acquired a flock of best friends.

"As a matter of fact, yes." I held out the business card so they could read it. "Do either of you know how to find this place?"

"Isn't that the jeweler that makes the jewelry the shrine sells?" Makoto asked thoughtfully.

"Of course we know where it is! Come on, Mako-chan! Let's take Bill shopping!" Usagi grabbed both of us and pulled us to our feet. She was freshly fueled, so Hurricane Usagi was in top form.


	5. Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An engagement and a housewarming that includes a couple surprises.

Usagi and Makoto sat in the back of Rei's house's main room, giggling maniacally and throwing looks my way as we waited for the rest of the Senshi to arrive. Ami kept looking toward them as if they'd slipped their moorings. I knew why they were giggling: they had been with me when we'd gone to the jeweler's.

The jewelry shop was a small one, but the quality of its work more than made up for the lack of quantity. While I was searching the selection of rings, I came across one that called to me. It was a ring made of braided gold and silver, set with a yin-yang symbol. The yin half was sapphire the color of Ami's eyes, and the yang was garnet. Oddly enough, it seemed to fit. Sapphire is Ami's birthstone; even though mine is opal, garnet seemed more appropriate. To top it all off, the ring was in Ami's size.

The jeweler had explained that it was a special order, placed by an elegant lady who'd told him a gaijin would be by today to pay for it. The three of us had looked at each other, whispering one name in unison: Setsuna. She was definitely pulling out all the stops to make sure things worked out.

Minako arrived a few minutes before Rei, and once Rei was there, Usagi was ready to start the meeting. Then Hotaru came in and announced that Papa and Mama would be arriving as soon as Papa parked the car. Setsuna walked in behind Hotaru, smiling mysteriously as usual and giving the dark-haired girl a gentle hug. I glanced around and grinned as I noticed Mamoru slip in behind Usagi and draw her into his arms. Haruka and Michiru arrived not long after Mamoru. Michiru was murmuring soothingly to Haruka, who looked as if she'd just had an argument with one of the local uniformed assholes. Haruka leaned against a wall with her arms crossed while Michiru murmured to her. It took a couple minutes of convincing before Haruka finally relaxed enough to lean against Michiru with a small tired sigh. If she knew how easily I could see through her tough act, she'd probably be mortified...

With everyone there, Usagi stood and began to talk about the Moon Kingdom, the need for continuity and hope, and how the one thing more important than fighting against evil was fighting for love. As she spoke, something about her changed...she became more confident, more convincing, more regal - she became the Princess we all knew her to be in our hearts.

Then she looked at Michiru and Haruka and told them that she remembered Smis-Dw; that she had been the promised companion for that generation, but I was the promised companion for this generation. It was obvious this was old news to Setsuna, but Haruka and Michiru gasped as the memories came back, and held each other a little tighter. Having introduced me, she turned with that smile of hers that inspires love, trust, and devotion.

"Bill, you had some business you wanted to present before us?" I smiled and nodded to her, then stood, laying my walking stick on the floor beside Ami while digging in a pocket. Once I had what I wanted, I kneeled in front of her and looked into her eyes.

"Mizuno Ami, in your heart I've found my home. In your touch, I've found joy. In your presence, I've found love. If you allow it, I'd like to devote the rest of my life to giving you the love and joy you give me. Will you be my wife?"

Suddenly, Setsuna was behind her, catching her head and cradling it as Ami tipped over backwards in a dead faint. She looked up at me and smiled knowingly.

"Don't worry. She'll be awake in just a few seconds." As she spoke, Ami stirred and opened her eyes. With Setsuna's help, she unsteadily sat up again.

"Bill? I just had the most wonderful dream..."

"It wasn't a dream, sweetheart." I offered her the ring, and she squealed happily, caught between wanting to throw her arms around me and offering me her hand to put the ring on. I chuckled softly and slipped the ring on her finger, then braced myself as she grabbed me and covered my lips with rapid-fire kisses.

When she finally released me, I moved around to her side again and snuggled her as I looked at the others.

"I've already asked Rei's grandfather to perform the wedding, because I assumed Ami would want Rei to be one of her maidens. We've set the date for April 1. Now I must ask the rest of you: will you accept me as one of your family?"

Usagi laughed and walked over to stand before us.

"You're being silly, Bill. You're already a part of this family, and will be for as long as you live. And longer, if you choose and your God allows. Now stop feeling like a stranger and accept it." She smiled and drew us both to our feet so she could give us each a kiss. As if that was a signal, the others gathered around to congratulate us.

I noticed Michiru and Haruka hanging back, and quietly slipped toward them while the others were admiring Ami's ring.

**Where is she, Lord?**

**Alive. Doing the same work you're doing, but in a different part of the world.**

**Will they ever find each other again?**

**It's very likely. She's thinking about visiting Tokyo to investigate the demon appearances.**

**Thank you.**

"Haruka? Michiru?" I murmured so only they could hear. "I just asked, and learned she's thinking about visiting Tokyo right now. Since she's a demon hunter, I'm certain that when she comes, you'll be able to find her again."

The looks of gratitude from both of them lightened my heart considerably. I didn't want to leave any of them unhappy if I could do anything to fix it. Bringing them together with the woman they'd both loved before at least had the chance to add to their happiness. Rei picked that moment to grab my arm from behind and tug me back toward the crowd around Ami. I smiled apologetically to Michiru and Haruka, both of whom smiled in amusement.

Ami snuggled close to me while our friends offered their congratulations, good wishes, and playful teasing.

"Why so soon, my love?" Ami whispered in my ear. "I'd love it if it were tomorrow, but it's still kind of fast."

I kissed her gently and whispered back to her, holding her close in anticipation of her reaction.

"I wanted it soon enough so our daughter isn't obvious through your dress."

Ami's eyes rolled back in her head and she grew heavy in my arms. Without a second thought, I scooped her up and gently lowered her to the floor. When I looked up, Setsuna was the only one near us; Rei and Minako had pushed the others back.

"That was a little abrupt, wasn't it?" Setsuna sounded more amused than critical.

"No more abrupt than your visit this morning. She's doing what I wanted to do."

"She can get away with it." Setsuna winked and stroked Ami's forehead gently. "She's a lot tougher than even she realizes." She looked up at me and smiled wistfully. I'll admit, that's not an expression I'd expected from her. "Your daughter will be born on October 29."

"Daughter? Their daughter?" Usagi squeaked, her voice carrying through the room and drawing the attention of every other person in the place. The looks that came our way ranged from envious to angry, but all were surprised.

"Bill? Did you say...our daughter?" Ami's voice was small and unsteady. I gently lifted her to rest against my chest and stroked her hair as I nodded.

"Yes, Angel. We're going to have a daughter, and she's going to be born on October 29. I'd like Haruka and Michiru to be her godparents."

The couple started and stared at us - ok, they stared at me - in shock. Ami saw their expressions and smiled, nodding as she reached out a hand toward them. The others opened a path for them and they approached in response to her invitation.

"Please? I agree. It just seems right to have you two as her godparents. Will you do it?" Ami still looked stunned. I couldn't blame her; I'd had all day to get used to being a father. As if I had managed it even then.

Michiru spoke for both of them as they took Ami's hand.

"We'd be honored." That was all she managed to get out before throwing her arms around Ami and hugging her tightly. Haruka's expression displayed a flash of jealousy, bringing a smile to my face.

"What's wrong, sis?" I whispered teasingly. "Wish you were in Ami's place? Or maybe you wish you were in Michiru's?" She growled at me, then laughed as she realized I was trying to make her feel better.

"How about both?" she replied in the same whisper. Just then, Michiru and Ami both grabbed her and pulled her close, leaving any reply from me extraneous.

Mamoru touched my shoulder, and we retreated to another room, where Grandfather and Yuuichiro were drinking sake. I grimaced when I realized they'd want me to join them. I've had sake before. I don't like it any more than I like vodka. Sure enough, Grandfather handed cups to both of us. I glanced at Mamoru, and realized he wasn't any more thrilled than I was.

"Come on, come on, drink up! This is supposed to be a celebration!" Grandfather sounded - and smelled - as if he were already well celebrated. Yuuichiro picked that moment to slide to the floor with a drunken snore. Mamoru and I looked at each other, shrugged, and raised our cups. Yup. The stuff tasted just as nasty as I remembered. Almost before we could lower them, Grandfather was pouring refills.

"So what about you? When are you going to make that cute Sailor Moon an honest woman?" Grandfather asked as we looked at each other with identical expressions of distaste. Mamoru choked and dropped his cup. Grandfather laughed and poured another, waving dismissively at the pottery fragments on the floor.

"S...Sailor Moon?"

"Yup. You know, that cute little blonde with the funny hairstyle?" At Mamoru's shocked expression, Grandfather grumbled good-naturedly, "I tell you, after watching all of you for the last six years, you'd think at least some of you would have figured out that I knew. It's kind of hard to miss, especially when my granddaughter is Sailor Mars."

"I didn't want you to worry, Grandfather." Rei's voice came from the door, surprisingly gentle. She moved into the room and knelt beside him with tears in her eyes. "No matter how mad I get with you, I love you. I didn't want to make it any harder on you than it already was, raising me."

Mamoru and I began slowly backing toward the door, looking for places to put our cups down without being noticed as Rei and her Grandfather began a talk that, in my opinion, was long overdue.

"Oh! There you are!" Usagi laughed and hugged me as we slid the door shut and let out stereo sighs of relief. "Ewww...you smell like sake!"

"Don't remind me." The look on my face must have been something, because Usagi threw back her head and let loose one of her room-clearing laughs, then laughed harder when she saw the expression on Mamoru's face. She moved to him and snuggled as close as she could get with clothes on.

"Oh, Bill...Ami's asking for you."

I moved toward the main room as fast as I could without running. There she was, the love of my life, lighting up my heart just by being. When she looked at me and her face lit up in a joyful smile, my heart took wing. I'm not sure I touched the floor as I made my way across the room to her side.

"They're as bad as Usagi and Mamoru," Rei stagewhispered as Ami and I embraced.

"Shh! They'll hear you!" Makoto replied in the same tone.

Ami looked into my eyes and giggled softly. We slipped away as our friends were arguing about whether or not we heard them.

"Gomen kudasai! Hello? Is anybody home?" Usagi's voice rang through the house from the front door. I set aside my work and went to let her in. My mind was still on the problem of forming MacManusite, but I remembered to put on a smile before opening the door.

"Hello, Princ..." My voice trailed off as Usagi pushed past me, followed by Minako, Rei, and Makoto. They were all carrying packages and chattering cheerfully.

"So you're Ami's boyfriend, huh?" I turned at the strange voice and looked into a pair of pink eyes that were staring at me suspiciously. My first thought was that she was an albino - until I noticed her hair was pink, too. I also noticed she looked about ten years older than the photos Usagi had shown me. "Well, you'd better not make her sad, or I'll punish you!"

I glanced back into the house, then whispered, "Don't say that quite so loud, or your mom will hear. I didn't think you'd be arriving until closer to the wedding."

"Yeah, well Sailor Pluto said I should come now, so here I am!" Chibi-Usa grinned at me. "You're not bad. Not as good as Mamoru, but not bad."

"Yeah, well Mamoru's a pretty special guy. Even if he is your father, huh?" I looked up and waved at the cute face at the end of the sidewalk. "Come on, Hotaru. I don't know what the girls are doing, but since they've already invaded, you might as well join them." I grinned down at Chibi-Usa. "And that goes for you, too. I need to get keys made for all of you, so you can come here as freely as you go to the shrine."

Chibi-Usa curtseyed, then dashed past me into the house. Hotaru followed more quietly, watching her with an expression that revealed clearly just how much she loved the little - ok, not so little - rabbit. I scanned the view outside before closing the door and turning back to see how much damage was being done to my home.

It had only been a week since I'd asked Ami to marry me, but the demons hadn't given us any trouble, and we'd managed to find a house that was close enough to campus for Ami to walk to school. Since it was in the opposite direction from the shrine, it also expanded the area we could watch easily. I'd emailed the people back in the States who I most wanted to join us, all of whom had responded with surprised delight at the news. When I'd phoned my mother and the only sister I gave a damn about, their reactions were, by turns, astonished, worried, and delighted that I'd finally found someone who loved me as much as I loved her.

I slipped through the crowd and slid my lab door closed, then watched as the girls opened their packages and deposited wrapped gifts in the center of the living room floor. Makoto vanished in the direction of the kitchen; I suddenly remembered I had dinner heating in the oven - and it wasn't nearly enough for this size crowd. The aroma of curry wafted through the house, and I knew Makoto had found dinner. Minako's eyes lit up at the scent, while the others glanced around curiously.

"OK, gang, we've got to finish decorating this place before Ami gets home, so let's get to it!" Usagi clapped her hands and dug more things out of her package. The others laughed and joined in, removing items from theirs, and the walls were quickly covered with a variety of decorations that clashed as badly as a college dorm room.

Usagi had somehow managed to come up with posters from some of my favorite anime - everything from "Kimagure Orange Road" to "Bubblegum Crisis". Minako had brought some Sailor V merchandise - including a few things I knew were hard to get for anyone who wasn't herself Sailor V, like an autographed stuffed Sailor V doll. Rei had brought some charms and ink paintings. Chibi-Usa and Hotaru sat in the middle of the room and watched with big eyes as their older friends turned it upside down.

I crouched beside the younger Senshi and murmured for their ears only, "Boy, your mom can really whip up a party when she wants to, can't she?"

Chibi-Usa giggled and nodded, then whispered in Hotaru's ear while she hugged her. The dark-haired girl giggled and nodded, then leaned against her pink-haired friend comfortably.

"So the question is, would you two like a snack while they're working? I think I have a bowl of French vanilla pudding in the refrigerator. It's one of my favorites." Chibi-Usa's eyes lit up the way Usagi's do at the mention of ice cream. "I'll take that as a yes? Come on, and let's see if we can get it before Makoto takes over the kitchen completely."

The three of us crept out of the living room, doing our best to avoid notice from the whirlwind decorators. Makoto was just as devastating a whirlwind in the kitchen, her knives flying as she chopped food in preparation for cooking. As we snuck in, she looked up and grinned, pointing at the refrigerator.

"I didn't touch it." She winked at me and reached up to get some dessert bowls down. "It looks like French vanilla. Is it?"

"How'd you know that's what we were after?" I asked with a smile and a nod.

"I happen to know what our favorite spore likes." When Chibi-Usa stuck her tongue out at her, Makoto laughed, "No, no, you've got to learn to do it right, sprout." Then she combined a redeye with a raspberry, a look that was so goofy I was glad I hadn't retrieved the pudding yet. Even Hotaru laughed - something I'd noticed she did far too rarely.

"Has anyone told you you're goofy, Mako-chan?" Chibi-Usa demanded as she tried to keep a straight face. She quickly lost that battle and joined the three of us in laughter.

"Bill, what was that mess in the oven? The only thing I could recognize in it was the curry." Makoto sounded faintly disapproving, and returned to her chopping as I fetched the pudding and dished it out.

"That was dinner."

"I could tell it was intended for that, but what was it?"

"Mackerel curry. Unlike Ami, I can't survive on sandwiches, but while I'm working on solving the MacManusite problem, I don't have the time or energy for anything fancy. So, I throw together whatever looks like it might work and let it cook while I'm working."

"What's this about my surviving on sandwiches?" Ami asked from the kitchen door. Chibi-Usa leapt to her feet and bowled her over in a Hurricane Usagi-style tackle.

"Ami-chan! I'm back!"

"I see that," Ami laughed from beneath the living embodiment of pink cuteness. "When did you get here?"

"Oh, just before a certain dumpling-haired fruitcake dragged all of us over here."

"Oooooh! You spore! I'll get you for that!" Usagi shrieked, and the two of them were off and running, laughing as Usagi chased her daughter - and friend.

"Like mother, like daughter, huh, Hotaru?" I smiled and slipped an arm around Ami as she came to me in a loving embrace.

"I guess," Hotaru murmured, looking down into her pudding. This was more like the Hotaru I'd seen over the last week.

"You've missed her, haven't you?" I sat beside the daughter of my two closest friends. "And you don't know how to tell her how you really feel about her. It sucks. I know."

"But I don't know how I really feel about her!" Hotaru wailed, getting Ami's and Makoto's attention. They both watched silently as Hotaru cried. "Do I feel this way just because of Mama and Papa? Do I even know what I feel? I'm not like the rest. I don't have two lifetimes of memories to help me. This is the first time I've ever been able to grow up and live without having to be shut up until it came time for me to destroy things. I don't know what to do!"

"Tell me what you feel?" Chibi-Usa asked, kneeling beside Hotaru and wrapping her arms around her gently. "You're my best friend in the whole world, and I'd do anything for you."

"But...but...I don't know what I feel! You're my best friend and I miss you so much and sometimes I want you to be more than a friend and-"

Chibi-Usa silenced Hotaru with a gentle kiss. There were gasps of surprise from the onlooking Senshi, all of whom had run to the kitchen in response to Hotaru's cries. Usagi quickly took charge and urged the others out, then closed the kitchen door and knelt beside Hotaru and Chibi-Usa.

"Hotaru? What do you feel inside? I mean, way down inside, where nothing makes any sense?" Usagi's voice was gentle and understanding, the kind of voice that could make you tell her your darkest secret.

"I..." Hotaru looked at Chibi-Usa and sobbed, hanging her head in shame.

"I love her," she whispered. "I want to love her the way Mama and Papa love each other."

The look of surprise on Usagi's face made it obvious she hadn't really looked at her daughter since she'd arrived. Chibi-Usa looked as if she were Hotaru's age; no longer was she the cute little sprout from the photographs.

"Why didn't you tell me, Hotaru?" Chibi-Usa asked, gently brushing the dark hair away from her friend's face. "I'd do anything for you. Anything at all."

"But I don't want that," Hotaru cried. "I don't want you to love me just because..."

Chibi-Usa turned her friend's gaze up to her and kissed her, firmly and lovingly. I took Ami's hand and slipped out of the kitchen, with Usagi following us, looking a little dazed.

"Your little girl isn't so little anymore, Usagi," I murmured as Ami and I hugged her gently and guided her to the living room.

"Hotaru's been sad for a long time," Usagi murmured. "I just thought it was because of what she's had to remember since becoming Sailor Saturn. I never realized..."

"That the two of them are old enough to start feeling more than the childish things you're used to expecting?"

"I don't know what to tell them," Usagi whispered, a sad look in her eyes. "I...I need to talk with Haruka and Michiru."

"Telephone's in the lab." I indicated the proper door. "Just...don't touch anything else? And don't let Minako touch anything?"

"Thanks." It was obvious as she moved away that Usagi was too wrapped up in her thoughts to respond with her usual airiness.

"They've always been close," Ami murmured, leaning against me. "I hope Hotaru can finally find happiness."

Minako and Rei looked expectantly at us, until Ami ducked her head and I shrugged.

"We decided they needed some privacy to work this out." I glanced back toward the kitchen. The sound of Makoto's knife was the only noise coming through the door. "I get the feeling Hotaru's the only one who noticed Chibi-Usa was growing up, eh?"

"Umm..." Minako looked as if she wanted to come up with something more constructive than that. Rei just blushed.

"Hotaru's what...sixteen or seventeen?"

"She's seventeen," Ami said quietly, glancing back toward the kitchen. "Old enough to know what she feels - if we'd bothered to listen and understand."

"Then we owe it to her to leave them to work it out with each other."

"That's exactly what we're going to do," Usagi said from the hall. "Haruka is on her way. Michiru is at a practice, but she'll come as soon as she gets Haruka's note." She laughed, her whole attitude shifting in a moment. "Do you have your stuff, Rei? We've got to give this house a proper warming."

I laughed and nodded when Rei turned a questioning glance to me. I'd gone through the house and purified it before I moved in, but I certainly wasn't going to reject her offer.

"You'd better not start the party without us!" Chibi-Usa yelled as she pulled Hotaru into the living room. Hotaru's smile was beautiful; the sprout had definitely made her happy.

"Ha! You think I want to listen to you complaining, spore?" Usagi shouted back, reaching out to her daughter with both hands. Chibi-Usa held back for just a moment, then ran to embrace our Princess, who murmured something in her ear that brought a flush to her cheeks to match the color of her hair.

Chibi-Usa turned to Hotaru and extended a hand. Usagi joined her, and Hotaru moved into a three-way embrace. I dug for a handkerchief and wiped my eyes, while Ami squeezed me in understanding. Over the last week, she'd seen several times how emotional I get over things like love and romance.

Makoto picked that time to come out of the kitchen carrying my tea service and some of her incredible cookies on a tray. Mother and daughter jumped excitedly and followed the aroma of food, while Hotaru just shook her head with a resigned smile as she followed them.


	6. MacManus Industries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mad scientist's breakthroughs, and shopping for wedding supplies. Somewhere in there, Bill explains why he's not afraid to die, and introduces Usagi to his writing.

Usagi was curled up in a corner with some of my manga. Chibi-Usa and Hotaru were snuggled together in another corner, and Michiru and Haruka were watching them from near the devastated remains of the feast Makoto had prepared, with the look of parents who'd just realized their little girl was growing up. Ami, Minako, Makoto, and Rei were talking about the things they needed to do before the wedding: the gowns, the flowers, the catering, all of it. I sat with my back against a wall beneath a Nuku Nuku poster, watching this group who'd quickly become more of a family to me than my own blood.

"When you get a chance, you should look in your laboratory," Setsuna murmured softly. I blinked in surprise; she hadn't been there a minute ago. She smiled that mysterious smile of hers and slipped away as silently as she'd arrived.

I shrugged and pushed myself to my feet, making a mental note to try and find a way to register time disturbances. The others were still busy with their own activities as I slipped down the hall to my lab and stared in surprise at what was filling the center of the room.

Somehow, she'd managed to get her hands on a nylon extruder, and had left it in the center of the room, along with a note stuck to my monitor that read, "Remember, the Senshi don't need machines to access hyperspace. It's a matter of heart, not mechanics."

I sat and looked at the note for several minutes, then got up to dump a bag of Lexan pellets in the extruder's hopper. I followed that with a pound of industrial diamond dust and started the agitator. After a minute, I felt something - I'm not sure what - and knew it was time to start the extrusion process. I flipped the switch and placed my hands on the core of the machine, where the final transformation would take place. With my eyes closed, I could see the molecules dancing under the pressure of the system. All they needed was a little nudge to make them come together the way I wanted...a nudge that, I saw in a flash of inspiration, I could give them myself. All I had to do was reach out with my mind...

"Bill! Bill! Wake up!" Ami's voice came to me as if through a long tunnel, and I realized the machine wasn't running anymore.

I opened my eyes and saw we were surrounded by a pile of monofilament thread. I released my grip on the machine and looked at Ami, suddenly aware of how tired I was. The other Senshi were gathered just inside the lab, looking around uncertainly.

"I did it," I whispered, leaning against my angel.

"You did it? You did what?" Ami asked, holding me up so I didn't fall.

"MacManusite."

"MacManusite? You mean, all this thread is MacManusite?"

I slid to the floor, too tired to stand, and nodded. Ami knelt beside me, supporting me as I sank, then picked up some of the thread and looked at it curiously.

"It looks like nylon."

"You can test it...try to destroy it. If it breaks, it's not good enough."

"Would one of you like to tell us what's going on?" Haruka demanded. "Why is there a piece of factory machinery in your house?"

"It's a nylon extruder," I smiled tiredly up at her. She must have realized how drained I was, because she was suddenly beside me, helping Ami support me. "I think I just made my first batch of MacManusite."

"OK, so what's MacManusite?"

"The material we're going to use to build the Crystal Palace." Usagi plucked Setsuna's note off the computer and laughed. "She gets into everything, doesn't she? But what does she mean?"

"This," I mumbled and reached into the air above Ami, retrieving her computer. The effort took the last of my strength, and I collapsed against Haruka, dropping the computer on my lap.

"How'd he do that?" Usagi asked in surprise, the last thing I heard as I surrendered to exhaustion.

"Do you always push yourself like that?" Haruka asked. I was laying on my bed, with Ami sitting on one side of me, and Haruka sitting on the edge of the bed on the other side. The others were gathered around the bed, looking worriedly down at me. I smiled weakly and waved at them. Ami caught my hand and kissed it gently.

"I don't know, Haruka. Until last week, just walking across the park was as much effort for me as what I did tonight. My body was in such horrible condition that I dreamed of inventing working cybernetics to replace most of it. So...I haven't really had a working body for long enough to know the answer to your question."

"Aside from your weight, what was wrong with you?"

"Arthritis, sleep disorder, asthma, some kind of chronic pain problem, sleep apnea, did I get them all?" Ami answered for me. I smiled and nodded.

"Actually, the asthma was secondary to hypersensitivity to every synthetic chemical in existence plus a long list of natural ones. And the sleep disorder and pain disorder were the same problem: fibromyalgia." I shrugged with a half smile. "Those problems are all gone now, though. I still feel giddy from the lack of pain, though. I guess it's what the doctors kept warning me I'd feel from the pain medicines. They thought it was a narcotic effect, though. Shows how little most doctors know."

"Hey! I'm going to be a doctor!" Ami protested, punching my arm. She smiled and kissed the spot she'd punched, then added, "But I know what you mean. My mother complains about it a lot. And the medical schools here in Japan don't believe fibromyalgia is a real illness. They treat people who suffer from it as if they're malingering."

"They do a lot of that in the States, too. It's bad enough that people suffering from it have had to form networks just to help each other, since the doctors won't."

"Hmm...so you weren't kidding when you said that you hadn't been pain-free in so long you'd forgotten what it felt like." Haruka chuckled softly. "Well, now that you have something to compare it to, what do you think?"

"Remember the night we fought the giant demon worm?"

"And you managed to find the only ice on the pond to crash into when you fell off it? Yes."

"Well, the pain of breaking through that ice was about the same as one of my least painful days before." At her look of disbelief, I nodded. "I'm serious. That was the least pain I could ever look forward to. Now do you understand why I said that being killed didn't hurt all that much?"

"I never realized..." Haruka's voice was barely audible. She has so much love in her; if she weren't afraid to show it, she'd be as dangerous as Usagi.

"No wonder you're not afraid to fight beside us," Ami murmured wonderingly. "The only way an enemy could defeat you would be to turn you back the way you were before you died."

I shuddered at the thought. Ami was right: that was the only thing that scared me. Then again, it had always scared me, even when I was a kid. Dying wasn't anything special, but being forced to endure permanent pain had always been my greatest fear. Ami felt my shudder and hugged me tightly, stroking my hair.

"So that's MacManusite?" Usagi asked suddenly. I blessed her silently for giving me something to think about besides my fear.

"I hope so. If not, I drained myself for nothing. Did all of you try to destroy it?"

"My Flame Sniper didn't even soften it," Rei said, a tone of wonder in her voice.

"And my Crescent Beam didn't cut it," Minako added.

"It just soaked up my thunder," Makoto said.

"None of us could damage it," Usagi said. "Except maybe Sailor Pluto or Sailor Saturn. Setsuna's not here, though, and I didn't want to ask Hotaru to work...not tonight." She smiled at the young couple, whose fingers were entwined as they watched me with expressions of worry on their faces.

"Hey...if I'm going to be stuck in bed until I get my energy back, the least you could do is bring me some pudding, sprout." I grinned as Chibi-Usa laughed and stuck her tongue out at me.

"Get it yourself, lazybones!"

I laughed, relieved at having been able to ease at least one person's worries.

"I think I will." I pushed myself upright, and swayed unsteadily while Ami and Haruka supported me. "Woo...guess I'm a bit more wiped than I thought. Is there any tea left?"

"No tea for you, love." Ami took over, pushing me back down on the bed. "The only thing you're going to do is sleep. And you're not getting out of that bed until you're rested enough to do it on your own."

Haruka nodded, squeezed my hand, and moved to join the others as Usagi started herding them out of the room.

"Haruka?" She turned around at my call. "Thank you, sis." The smile on her face was worth the extra effort. Ami kissed me and promised to return just as soon as the others were on their way home.

"Mmm...," I turned and reached for my love as she slid beneath the covers beside me. She snuggled against me, kissed the tip of my nose, and buried her face in my chest, shuddering in my arms as she cried silently for a minute before looking up into my worried gaze.

"I'm sorry," she murmured softly and kissed me. "When I saw you in your lab...I was so scared. I was afraid I'd lost you...already."

"You're not going to lose me that easily, Ami." I stroked her cheek and looked into her eyes with all the determination I could muster. "I will never leave you, no matter what happens. Even death will not keep us apart."

She sighed and snuggled against me, her head under my chin and her fingers drawing tracks in the fur on my chest. "What happened tonight, Bill? What made you drain yourself like that?"

"I'm not so sure I'm drained, sweetheart." I nuzzled her hair and thought a moment before continuing. "It's more like...Did you ever do something silly, like try to run a marathon without getting in shape first? That's what I feel like. I guess a hundred pounds of MacManusite is a little much to start with. I should have worked up to it, but when I read Setsuna's note, I suddenly understood what I've been doing wrong all this time, and knew how to do it right."

"And you didn't think of the demands on your system before doing it." Ami laughed softly and kissed me. "Silly love, magic is just as much work as martial arts. It's just a different kind of work."

"Magic? But all I did was-" Ami's finger pressed against my lips and she nodded.

"Magic. All magic is, is using your will to make things happen. When we use our powers as Senshi, we're using magic. When I use my computer, it's a different kind of magic, but it's still magic. When you write a book, you're doing magic of a sort. And now that you're with us, magic will make up a big part of your life."

"Mmm..." I sucked her finger into my mouth and gently nibbled, bringing a squeak and giggle as she blushed with anticipation. When I let go, I smiled and whispered, "If you want to make that kind of magic, you're going to have to do the physical work. Do you think you're up for it?"

"The question is, are you up for it?" she laughed and pushed me on my back, straddling my waist and arching her back to display herself for my admiring gaze. She purred happily as she felt the affirmative answer to her question.

"Hi, Usagi! Can you do me a favor?" Usagi looked up from her textbook as I set a bag down on the table beside her. "I've had one of my books translated into manga, and I'd like you to tell me what you think of the translation."

The look of gratitude on her face was so wonderful, I realized I'd go almost as far to see it as I would to see Ami's smile.

"You brought manga? Let me see!" No doubt about it - Usagi was more of an otaku than me. And that's going some.

I took the book out of the bag - a proof copy of the first Knights in Tarnished Armor manga, a collection of KITA short stories. It had taken some work to keep the manga company in line with what I had written, but I didn't want them to butcher it the way they'd butchered Lensmen.

Usagi laughed at the cover and pointed to where Eve and Diana flanked Ben protectively.

"That looks like the way Rei and Minako are sometimes. And those two look like Michiru and Haruka!" I chuckled as she pointed at Alex and Lauren.

"They are, kind of. The black girl - her name's Lauren - is a lot like Michiru would be if she were a priestess like Rei and as mysterious as Setsuna. The Gypsy - her name is Alex - is kind of what Haruka would be like if she had your impulsiveness and absolutely no inhibitions."

"No inhibitions?" Usagi blushed and glanced back down at the manga.

"Well...two inhibitions. She won't knowingly hurt Lauren, and she won't force herself on someone who doesn't want her. Otherwise...none." I grinned as Usagi's blush spread all the way to her scalp. She's so innocent, it's nice to blow her mind with something nice sometimes. "I should warn you...a few of the stories are a little ecchi."

I chuckled as her blush deepened while she reached for the book. Just as I'd expected; Usagi's sweet and innocent, but she's a normal, healthy woman. I grabbed a can of green tea from a vending machine and settled into the chair across from her while she started reading.

Ami was supposed to meet us so Usagi could help her pick out a wedding dress, so I wasn't in any hurry. Usagi gasped and squeaked a few times as she read, then looked up at me with tears in her eyes and a radiant smile.

"You understand," she murmured, reaching out to offer her hand. I gave it a gentle squeeze, more than a little confused. "Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only one who sees it - that being human is what's in your heart, not how you were born."

"I don't know," I murmured with an embarrassed smile. "It's always seemed obvious to me. If you have love in your heart, you're human - no matter what species your DNA is from. Or whether you even have DNA."

"Artemis and Luna would be indignant to hear that," she giggled. "After all, cats are the superior species."

I had to join in her laughter. The image of their reaction to being called human was just too comical.

"Is this a private joke?" Ami's voice asked as her hands slid across my shoulders and up the back of my neck.

"Just imagining how Artemis and Luna would react to being called human." As I explained to Ami, Usagi let out a fresh peal of laughter. Ami chuckled in agreement and settled into the seat beside me.

"What brought that up?" She purred contentedly as I drew her close to my side and shared my tea.

"I just asked Usagi to tell me what she thinks of the manga translation of my short stories. The first story she read was 'Becoming Human'."

"The one about how Ben and Eve met? That's a sweet story." Ami looked up at me with a contented smile.

"It's more than that." It's still kind of strange to hear Usagi being serious. We all know she has the potential, but we're so used to her being the stereotypical blonde that it's a surprise when she shows her deeper side. "It shows that he understands what it means to be human."

"Yes, it does, doesn't it?" Ami's eyes as they gazed up at me were frankly adoring. I blushed and ducked my head to kiss her.

"He blushes as nice as Mamoru, doesn't he?" Usagi teased. Ami giggled and nodded. Between the two of them, I felt as if my face were going to spontaneously combust.

Usagi suddenly squealed and jumped to her feet, stuffing her books into her bag. I was glad to see her include the manga among them.

"We've got to run or we'll be late, late, late!"

Ami looked at her for a moment, then broke into laughter as she rose from her seat.

"Sometimes I think you'd be late for your own coronation," she teased as Usagi developed a horrified expression.

"Coronation? You mean I'm going to have to be regal and dignified and endure hours of boring ceremony like the Emperor did?"

The thought of Usagi being regal and dignified was just too absurd. Adding the thought of her managing it for hours was just too much to take. I sank back into my seat, laughing so hard I fell into a coughing fit.

When I recovered, Ami was looking at me with a worried expression, while Usagi still had that look of horror on her face. I started to break into laughter again when I noticed a gleam of satisfaction in her eyes.

"You...you...Imp!" I laughed, pointing at Usagi. "You set that up!"

"Me?" The look of affronted dignity Usagi affected was so overdone, Ami and I both started laughing again. Usagi held the look for just a few more moments, then joined us.

I was happily surprised: not only had I not been rushed out of the bridal shop, both Ami and Usagi were actively asking for my opinions as they searched for just the right gown.

The problem with most wedding gowns is that they look more appropriate for a soap opera or stage production than a wedding. I'm sure the three of us drove the shopkeeper insane - especially when our final choices required her to bring out her seamstress for directions.

When we saw who the seamstress was, Usagi and Ami both fell silent, stunned by the idea that Setsuna thought this wedding was important enough to involve herself even in this detail. Given how she'd been involving herself in everything else, I wasn't as surprised as they seemed to be.

With a little prodding, and Setsuna's usual almost-feline secretiveness, I managed to get Ami and Usagi out of the bridal shop. OK, not nearly so much prodding as I'd been afraid of: I just told Usagi I desperately needed some ice cream to keep my energy up and would she please take us to the best ice cream shop in the area. As soon as I was sure they were comfortably seated and had placed their orders, I kissed Ami and slipped away to take care of an errand I'd expected to run while they were in the bridal shop.

A month earlier, the day after I made my first batch of MacManusite, Setsuna had left a box of gemstones in my lab, with notes associating each stone with a different Senshi, Tuxedo Kamen, or myself. Oddly enough, she'd associated garnet with both herself and me. She'd also recommended the jeweler I'd bought Ami's ring from as being both capable and discreet, when I'd decided what to do with the stones. Now I was visiting that jeweler to collect the results of my decision.

As promised, all twelve packages were ready. Now all I had to do was take them home and make the final assembly before the wedding. I wondered idly how they'd react when I gave them their gifts. Then I laughed at myself. How often does the groom give wedding gifts to the most important people in his and his bride's lives?

When I returned to the ice cream shop, Usagi and Ami were talking about what to name our daughter. Mamoru had reached the door at the same time as I had, and had slipped in behind me with a gesture for silence and a playful twinkle in his eye. I was more then happy to play along, so Usagi didn't see him until I slid into the seat beside Ami. The happy squeal Usagi made as she leaped to embrace him made several of the other patrons jump in surprise.

"She's got to be part dolphin," I whispered to Ami with a grin, moments before she made any speech impossible with a happy kiss.

"Mmm...are you sure she's not part werejackal?" Ami asked upon breaking the kiss, with a teasing grin in Usagi's direction. Usagi turned a beautiful pink and buried her face in Mamoru's chest.

"I don't know...I guess we'd have to ask Rei about that," I mused, with a wink at Ami as Usagi made the connection and her blush deepened.

"Don't you dare!" she managed to squeak, before realizing what her protest implied and trying to hide under Mamoru's arm.

"Would somebody like to tell me what's going on?" Mamoru's tone and expression made it clear that he knew Usagi was at the heart of whatever it was. I pointed to the manga on the table.

"Usagi's been reading," Ami laughed and gently elbowed me as Usagi squeaked and snuggled closer to Mamoru.

Mamoru picked up the book and studied the cover for a minute.

"This isn't your usual style, Usako." He paused, then looked at me. "I didn't know you wrote manga."

"I don't. At least, I haven't before. That's a translation of my short stories. I'd asked our resident manga expert to read them and tell me what she thinks." I grinned at the Princess, who squeaked again from the safety of Mamoru's side. "It seems she thinks Ami and I are comparing her to one of my characters - a Gypsy werejackal rock star."

"And this is important because...?"

"Imagine someone with Haruka's stubbornness, Usagi's impulsiveness, Rei's temper, and the inhibitions of a dolphin," Ami answered, giggling as Usagi squeaked and burrowed some more.

Mamoru glanced down at his love and a grin spread across his face as he answered playfully, "She sounds like the perfect girlfriend."

"She also has Haruka's preference in lovers," Ami slipped in, just before Usagi sat up with an outraged cry and began swatting Mamoru's arm.

"And that's why our Princess reacted so delightfully when you suggested asking Rei." Mamoru chuckled, caught Usagi's hands, and pulled her in for a kiss. "My sweet, silly, wonderful dumpling. Don't you know by now that we all love you? If you want to express that love with any of the others, you have my whole-hearted blessing."

"You really mean that?" Usagi looked up into Mamoru's eyes in shock and happiness. "You wouldn't mind if I let Haruka seduce me?"

"No, I wouldn't," Mamoru assured her. "Nor would I mind if you finally eased Rei's longing, or played with Minako, or made music with Michiru, or-"

He was cut off by an ecstatically squirming Usagi, who kissed him as thoroughly as if he'd just asked her again to marry him. Ami leaned against me and echoed my thought that now was a good time to slip away.

"Did you talk with Setsuna?" Ami asked as we rode back to our house. The cabby discreetly looked the other way as she snuggled under my arm, reaching up to stroke my now clean-shaven cheeks.

"No, I didn't. I did manage to take care of other business, but I didn't run into her." I smiled down at my love as I waited for her curiosity to kick in.

"You're not going to tell me what it was, are you?" she asked, pouting cutely.

"Nope. All I can say is that it has to do with your wedding present. The rest is a surprise." Her eyes lit up and she threw her arms around me, just as we came to a stop in front of the house. I laughed and set my package on her stomach, then carried her into the house. She giggled and kissed me as we crossed the threshold. "Practicing for our wedding night?"

"Could be," I said, before lowering her to the floor with a playful growl. "You are such a tasty morsel..."

"Bad boy!" she laughed, swatting my hands gently. "You promised to let me study tonight, remember? I'm only nine chapters ahead in all of my classes." She sighed wistfully and caught my hands, pressing them to her chest hard enough for me to feel her heart beating. "With the demons last week, and all the wedding preparations, I just haven't been keeping up my studying like I should."

I hugged her gently and murmured softly in her ear.

"I understand, Angel. I'll be in the lab if you need me before bedtime. Do you want me to bring you anything before I start working?"

"I'm fine, love. Just don't let me stay up too late, ok?" She smiled and nuzzled me, then slipped away to spread her books out on the living room table and set to work.

In the lab, I emptied my package on one of the workbenches and examined the contents with a satisfied nod. The jeweler had turned the gems Setsuna had given me into a dozen watches, ready to slip into mountings I had made for them while waiting for the finished products. The face of each watch was made of a single slice of the stone Setsuna had noted was associated with the intended recipient, and the hour markings were made of chips from Usagi and Chibi-Usa's stones. Since their stones were diamonds, I'd had the jeweler mark theirs with chips from each of the other stones. The three, six, nine, and twelve marks on Usagi's watch were made of chips from Mamoru's stone, a black diamond. The same marks on Chibi-Usa's watch were of chips from Hotaru's stone, fluorite. Setsuna's watch and mine had come from the same garnet, so the garnet chips on the two Princesses' watches were connected to both of us.

I began mounting the watches to their cases: molded MacManusite on woven MacManusite bands, in the colors of the intended recipient's fuku. I started with mine, so I could test the other features of the cases while working on the others. I booted up my computer and called up a neural network training routine with a list of target words. As I worked on the other watches, I read each target word until the computer recognized it perfectly, then moved on to the next. As I went down the list, the recognition time grew shorter and shorter, until the computer was recognizing words on the first reading. I saved the resulting configuration and screwed down the last transparent MacManusite crystal on the last watch, then loaded them all into a cradle connected to the computer's network card. I set the saved configuration to run on the watches, then checked the time.

In the living room, Ami was showing signs of flagging as I crept in quietly. I couldn't blame her: it was after midnight. Thank goodness the next day was Saturday.

"Bedtime, Angel," I called softly from near the stairs. She didn't even look up. I crept forward and saw she was deep in her math book. She'd never hear me through the concentration she applied to math. I picked up a bookmark and slid it across the page she was reading, and when she looked up in surprise, took the book from her hands, closed it, and put it on the table.

"It'll still be there tomorrow, my love. Now it's time for you to come to bed." She smiled up at me as I spoke and held out her hands for my help in rising to her feet.


	7. An Old Enemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill's ex-wife is a demon. Literally. Make that, WAS a demon.

"What is it, Bill?" Ami cradled me against her breast as I quaked in terror. I'd had that nightmare again - the one I hadn't had since a year into my therapy, over a year earlier. It was the only nightmare I ever had - the one where my ex-wife took on the appearance of a demonic spider and stalked me like a cat stalking a mouse while I was transfixed with horror.

As my paralysis broke, I sobbed against Ami, clutching her like a life preserver.

"It was her, wasn't it?" I looked up and broke into fresh tears at the expression of worry and understanding in her eyes. What had I done to deserve this angel in my life? "Bill, you're free of her. She can't hurt you any more."

Ami's communicator beeped, and she used a word I'd never expected to hear coming from her lips. I gently pushed her away and nodded, while mopping my face on the edge of the sheet.

"Ami?" Rei's voice came from the communicator. "Watch out, ok? I was just awakened by a very bad feeling - and it's centered around you or Bill."

"How bad?" Ami bit her lip as she looked back at me. I did my best to smile, but I know how weak that is after this nightmare.

"Remember the bad feeling I had the day Fiore came? Worse than that." Ami's expression fell, then she turned as focussed and businesslike as if she'd just transformed.

"Bill and I are coming over right now. We'll meet you by the fire in about twenty minutes."

"Do you want anyone else there?" Ami glanced at me at the question and I bit my lip as I thought, then drew a crescent in the air.

"Only Usagi, if you can wake her. No sense in ruining anyone else's sleep. How's Naru doing?" I wondered why she'd asked that, then realized she might be hoping my nightmare wasn't unique - that it was a general attack she could do something about, rather than something specific to me.

"She didn't even stir when I checked on her. She's just fine. I've got to prepare before you arrive. Be careful. Something feels wrong."

"We will be." She closed her communicator and turned to me. "Do you feel up to it?"

I nodded and crawled out of bed, took a deep breath to still my trembling, and moved to gather my clothes. With Rei's warning, I decided to dress in the new outfit Setsuna had helped me make from the MacManusite thread I'd created in that first batch a month before. Everything, from my shoes to my fedora, was made of woven, knit, or molded MacManusite. I'd even replaced my trenchcoat with a copy made of MacManusite fabric. Ami had slipped into a skirt and turtleneck and was sliding into her coat when I joined her at the door.

We took a cab to the shrine, so our arrival was within five minutes of Ami's estimate. Rei was waiting at the entrance, and led us to the Sacred Flame.

"What can you tell me about what happened?" she asked, looking directly at me.

"I had a nightmare." Ami shook her head, looking up at me, and I sighed. "OK, I had THE nightmare. The same one I've had three other times in my life. I thought I'd defeated it the last time it happened, but...it happened again."

"Tell me about it."

"It's always the same. I'm in an endless dark place, trying to escape from my ex-wife. She isn't human: she's an enormous black widow spider, and she's playing with me like a cat plays with a mouse. I always wake just as she's moving in for the kill...but I can still feel her presence, even after I wake."

"And when have you had these dreams?"

"The first time was...about a year before I met her. The second time was about two years after I married her, just before I started to realize how evil she is. The third time - the time I defeated her - was about a year after I'd left her, just before my divorce went through. This time...it was her again."

"How did you defeat her before?"

"I got mad. The same way I did the day I met all of you. I got so mad that I was willing to die, if that was what it took to destroy her. So I fought back, and she died - at least, I thought she did."

"Interesting. How did you fight her?" Rei's eyes lit up the way Ami's did at a new computer program. I realized the night was going to be even longer than I'd anticipated.

"With my bare hands. She transformed...into a humanoid shape...and I snapped her neck." As I described it, my hands went through the motions. Ami paled, but Rei nodded.

"That's a pretty advanced maneuver. How did you know it?"

"I..." I realized I didn't know how I'd known to do that. "I don't know. It just seemed like the right thing to do."

"Well, let's see what we can learn. Something still feels wrong, and...do you feel anything different since you woke?"

"My left shoulder's a little stiff. Not as bad as it used to be, but enough to notice."

"Your left shoulder?" Rei's eyes narrowed and she snapped out an ofuda with a growl. Suddenly, I felt a stab of pain, like a burning spear, through my shoulder. The gasp I emitted brought a look of worry to Ami's eyes, and she reached for me - only to be knocked away by Rei as she chanted rapidly and slapped the ofuda down in the exact spot the pain was focussed on.

The sensation was a lot like being plugged into a high voltage line. My entire body stiffened - I tasted ashes on my tongue - my breathing stopped - I collapsed into Ami's arms as I felt something tear free and flee into the darkness.

**What...?**

**You already know the answer.**

**But I thought I'd destroyed her power.**

**You only weakened it. She's regained her strength, with the help of a new victim.**

**The mouse?**

**He's a bit more than that - but he worships her, giving her power.**

"That's...not good." I groaned.

"What isn't?" Ami brushed my hair back with a worried look in her eyes.

"My ex...she has a worshipper. Someone feeding her power...so she's more powerful than she was when I was married to her."

"Do you know her worshipper?"

"Yes. He worshipped her when we were married, and managed to convince himself that my fears of her were proof that I was deluded. Or worse." I grimaced at the memories. She'd toyed with him, in my presence, and used my concern for him as one of her weapons against me. I'd never understood why she was the way she was...

"Is she human, I wonder?" Rei was thinking out loud. "That kind of attack...and the haunting that followed it...You say you've felt that sensation in your shoulder before?"

"It was constant, from not long after I met her, until I died. The pain never went away...and it was always focussed in the exact spot you put your ofuda on."

"This should be interesting," Rei said with a cold smile. "She knows you're alive again."

"Who's she?" Usagi asked, wiping her eyes tiredly as she stumbled into the shrine.

"My ex-wife." I grimaced again at the look of shock on Usagi's face.

"Your...did you know this, Ami?"

"Yes, I knew it. He's never tried to hide it, but until tonight I'd always thought his descriptions of her were colored by his memories. Now..." She transformed and activated her visor, studying me through it intently. "I see torn threads of energy around you. It's a lot like the energy of the oni, but without the guiding purpose they have."

"That doesn't surprise me," I grumbled softly. "The only guiding purposes she has are selfishness and petty vindictiveness. I just...didn't think she had any real power."

"She may not," Rei said. "She may just be a conduit for another power. Some people are like that - their nature opens a path for energies that wouldn't otherwise have an expression."

"Kind of like silver doesn't have any real power on its own, but it makes a great electrical conductor?"

"Exactly. Unfortunately, the only way to know for certain which this is..." She trailed off and looked into the fire.

"Bill, you and I are going to talk," Usagi said firmly, dragging me away from Rei's meditation. Ami looked sympathetically at me, but didn't move to interfere. "All right, what's this about an ex-wife?"

"I was married before, Usagi. Twice, in fact. The first one, I divorced because she was violent and...well, what would you do if you were married to someone who threatened the sprout by doing stupid things, like walking into traffic with the assumption that a car driving toward them at 100 klicks was going to stop just because they had a child with them?"

"I'd kill them!" Usagi gasped in shock. "I mean...uh...seriously? How could anyone be that stupid?"

"I don't know, but she did that, and other things just like it, with both of her children. Her only redeeming feature was that she looked - a little - like Ami. And, I was nineteen when I married her, and she was so oversexed she made Alex look like a prude...And let's face it, when I was that age, I was an asshole. As much as I dreamed of romance, sex was as close to it as I was ever going to get." I closed my eyes and grimaced as I felt a lump of self-loathing building in my gut. "I suppose, in some ways, I'm still an asshole. I don't know how Ami can tolerate me..."

The feeling of Usagi's hand across my cheek, and the echo of the slap through the shrine, shocked me out of myself; I looked at her in surprise as I reached up to touch the burning spot where her hand had landed.

"You may be an asshole, but you're our asshole." OK, I knew I'd made her mad - the idea of Usagi using that kind of language was as much a shock as the slap - but I deserved it. "And anyway, I don't think you are. You've made Ami happy, you're a part of our family now, and I will not allow one of my family to do to himself what you're doing. You're lucky it's me here, not Haruka. She'd kick your butt around the shrine and back again if she heard you talking like that. And you know she would, too."

I had to laugh, just a little. Usagi was right. Haruka would never tolerate my self-pity. It's amazing now, how I could lie to myself so easily and describe what I was feeling as self-pity...

"That's better. It's not good, but it's better. Ask yourself...how many boys that age aren't assholes? Can you name just one?"

"Mamoru." That was an easy question to answer. I was totally unprepared for Usagi's laughter.

"You don't know the half of it...I love him, with all my heart...but some of the things we went through while we were finding each other...if he weren't my Prince, I'm not sure we'd have ever made it through. Of course, I was pretty hard on him, too." She touched my hand, where it touched my cheek. "What I'm trying to say, Bill, is that you're human. Part of being human is doing things you're not proud of. The important part is how you deal with it. Do you wallow in guilt and self-loathing, or do you use it to make yourself better?"

Damn, I hate it when she does the Princess thing. Especially when she's right. Of course, when she does the Princess thing, I haven't yet seen her be wrong. It's even worse when she echoes what my therapist spent nearly a year and a half trying to get me to understand.

"There's more to it than that," Ami said as she approached with her visor in place. "While you were talking, I saw some of the energy threads re-attach themselves. You have an enemy who is trying to destroy you. Or make you destroy yourself.

"And with what He told me..."

"It's very likely it's her."

"Her? But how could someone that stupid be a threat?" Usagi looked - and sounded - confused. I suppose I can't blame her. My life isn't the most straightforward of things to follow.

"We're talking about his second wife, Usagi. The one who programmed him to hate himself." I looked up at Ami in shock. That's almost exactly the way my therapist had described it. He'd said I had to learn to replace her programming with my own, or I'd always have trouble because of her.

"His...second wife?" Usagi asked, not quite as confused. "That's right...you did say you'd been married twice. What was your second wife like?"

"Imagine someone who gets pleasure out of dominating and inflicting pain on those around her...and the closer they are, the more pleasure she gets out of it. Imagine someone who believes that those around her exist only to serve her, and their right to existence is dependent entirely on how they please her." I took a deep breath and plunged ahead. Talking about her was harder than I'd thought. "Imagine someone who can appear beautiful and seductive, and once you've been snared can use your love for her to turn you into the thing you hate the most. Imagine someone who can use even a term of endearment as a reminder that you are vermin and exist only because she has some use for you. That's my second wife."

"That sounds like Beryl," Usagi said sadly, laying a hand gently on my shoulder. "If I didn't know I'd destroyed her, I'd be worried."

"This isn't youma energy, though." Ami peered at me closely, focussing on my left shoulder, which was starting to act up again. "It's closer to the energy of the oni we've been fighting the last couple months - or the energy Tomoe-sensei was consumed by."

"Oni or daimons; what a wonderful choice," Usagi muttered softly. "Why couldn't we have just some simple youma to fight? Those would be easy."

While Ami was analyzing the energy around me, Usagi was trying to come up with a plan, and Rei was searching for answers in the Sacred Flame, I decided to try an experiment. If it worked, I'd be protecting the others. If it didn't...well, I'd burn that bridge after I crossed it.

I closed my eyes and focussed inward, the same way I did when I was making MacManusite.

**Good. You're learning.**

**You could have told me, Lord.**

**I know you better than that. You had to learn this for yourself.**

**Is there anything else I should know before I do something stupid?**

**Only that, in this place, your imagination and your willpower are your strength.**

**Not my faith?**

**That's a given. I've never doubted that. It's the other qualities you need to look to, because they'll give you the strength and weapons that your faith will wield.**

**My imagination and my willpower. So if I imagine myself to be...?**

**That's right. Now go and fight your battle.**

My imagination, he'd said. Not anybody else's. In that case...the darkness around me was replaced by space, with the Earth above me and the moon below. I was enveloped in my Ravenfield, floating in the place where the pull of each orb was balanced by the other's. With a thought, I called up my tactical display, and suddenly I was deluged by data from all directions; the thing I was most interested in was in the process of being absorbed by my Ravenfield, feeding me energy the way it had been intended to feed my enemy.

The lines of power that trailed from the entity were easy to follow: I simply centered the strongest of those that controlled the empty husk that had once been a demon in my tactical grid and accelerated along it. This time, I was taking the fight to my enemy instead of waiting for it to attack me. I noted in passing the fading of the pain in my shoulder with the end of the demon.

My trip was faster than I'd expected - either I was accelerating at a higher rate than I'd imagined, or I'd miscalculated in my writing. Either was equally likely - and equally unimportant. The energy trail was joined by others, not far away; the pattern was like that of a cobweb, with strands going in all directions, some tangling with others, some strung alone, but all pulsing as they fed energy to the creature in their center.

Now that I had my target, I added a visual overlay to my tactical display, and saw the enemy of my dreams. It - she - was an enormous black widow spider, easily five times my size. With a thought, I extended Raven's wings, boosted the leading edge of the field to disintegrate intensity, and dove for the creature. I'm almost embarrassed at how quickly it was over. When the creature saw/didn't see (with the Ravenfield, either is equally correct) my figure diving on it, it panicked. It displayed itself like a funnelweb spider, and when I didn't stop, it used its last defense - at least, the last defense I allowed it. It transformed into my ex-wife's appearance and opened its mouth to speak, just as I swept a wing through it, absorbing every last spark of its energy.

With the creature gone, the energy trails began to shrivel and fade like uprooted vines. I nodded in satisfaction and flew back into space. As I flew, I saw other webs scattered across the globe, and other focuses of energy like that of the thing I'd slain. I knew, without a doubt, that the rest of my life was going to be very busy.

"Bill! Wake up!" I felt someone shaking me and groaned, then remembered what had happened and pushed blindly to free myself, feeling a fuku beneath my hand.

"Stay back." My voice sounded strange, as if the energy I'd absorbed was affecting it. Apparently, it sounded strange to the others, too because I was suddenly surrounded by dead silence. "I don't know yet what effect my battle has had on me, and I don't want to risk you."

"You had a fight, and didn't invite us?" Haruka's voice asked with a slightly teasing lilt. "I should be annoyed, shouldn't I?"

I opened my eyes, to discover that they were all there, and the sun was streaming in through the front door. Sailor Mercury was laying sprawled beside me, where I'd pushed her back as I woke.

"Now you know, a little, what it's like to be me," Sailor Saturn said softly. "I'm sorry."

"It's my own fault," I told her gently, just before I felt the back of my head get a good solid thumping. "Well, it is! You were all so worried for me, and trying to hard to help me, I had to do something to help myself. So I went inside, and found the demon's trail...and I killed it. Permanently, this time."

At least my voice was returning to normal. I glanced back to see who'd thumped me, and saw Rei, who stuck her tongue out at me once she had my attention. I laughed and wagged a finger at her.

"Better make sure you plan to follow through, if you're going to issue an invitation like that, fire child." It was nice to see her blush in response to my teasing, and to hear Haruka's deep chuckle and Michiru's soft laugh. It took a moment, but soon the others were laughing along with us.

I offered my hand to Sailor Mercury, who returned to her mortal guise as she took it and snuggled against me. She is so wonderful... As I looked up, I saw Setsuna watching me with a smile of approval.

**Something else I had to do for myself, eh?**

The look of surprise on her face was worth the effort. But with all this energy to burn, I could afford the trick.

**I didn't remem-I mean, this is something new, isn't it?**

**Yes, it is. I've understood the theory for a couple weeks, but it's a lot harder than making MacManusite. For me, at least. For Ami, it should be as natural as breathing. I wonder why she doesn't.**

**Perhaps because she doesn't remember how. If this is so difficult, why are you doing it now?**

**Because that demon had a lot of energy, and I'd rather not keep it inside me. It's...if this is what Hotaru feels, I understand why she's so sad.**

**It's similar, but not quite the same. The power of Saturn is blind, impersonal, without hostility. It simply is, the way a forest fire or a nuclear explosion is.**

**Unlike a demon, which is actively malevolent. How do we make her feel the difference, though?**

**You'll find a way.**

Her tone made it clear it was one of those things she couldn't tell me, so I turned my attention to Ami.

**Ami-chan? My Angel?**

**Yes, beloved? I-how are you doing this?**

**The formula is in my computer. It's really simple. At least, it should be for you. It's a lot harder for me. With all the walls I've built around my heart, it takes lots of energy to reach out like this. For you, it should be as natural as breathing.**

The others were shooting questions at me and each other, so rapidly and chaotically I had no hope of keeping up, until Usagi imposed order and looked directly at me with her most irresistible gaze.

"You want to hear the story, don't you?" I sighed in resignation as she nodded. Nothing to do but bite the bullet and explain it all from the beginning....


	8. Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Usagi tempts ... fate ... and learns an important lesson, Setsuna gets involved in a pillow fight, David and Edgar Awaken, and Bill and Ami have a joint project.

We were gathered in Grandfather's living room, drinking tea and eating some mysterious cakes he had insisted would restore our energy. Well, they certainly tasted good, not that I needed any energy restored.

"She's right, you know. I would have kicked your butt around the shrine and back again," Haruka said, idly twirling a lock of Michiru's hair as they rested comfortably against a wall. Usagi, her head pillowed on Haruka's lap, looked up at her and stuck her tongue out. "Careful, Princess. Bill's warning to Rei applies to you, too, you know."

"And how do you know I'm not prepared to follow through?" Usagi shot back.

The shocked expressions that filled the room were enough to make me grin. Ami giggled softly and looked up at me playfully.

"It looks like she's not wasting any time," she whispered with a smile. "I wonder where Mamoru is."

"He had to go down the hall," I told her. "He should be coming back any minute now."

As I spoke, Mamoru stepped into the room. He stopped and looked around, noticing that Usagi, Ami, and I were the only ones in the room who weren't in a state of shock. He got that resigned look again and gazed at his beloved.

"What did you do, Dumpling?"

"Just stuck my tongue out at Haruka," she answered in her "I'm-so-innocent" voice. "I can't imagine why they're so surprised."

"Perhaps," Haruka growled softly, "because you're tempting...fate."

"Oh, pooh!" Usagi put on her "love-me" pout. "I hoped I was tempting you."

To the looks of shock were added a goodly amount of red, finally overwhelming my self-control. I broke into laughter, joined quickly by Mamoru and Ami. When the others turned to stare at us as if we'd lost our minds, we laughed harder. So hard, in fact, that Mamoru ended up sliding down the wall until he landed on the floor.

"See? Mamoru doesn't mind." Usagi's voice then shifted to her gentler, loving tone as she reached out to take Michiru's hand. "Michiru? I don't want to make you jealous. I'd...be very sad if I did that."

Michiru took Usagi's hand and looked into her eyes with a deep sadness, finally emitting a heavy sigh and speaking softly to her.

"Princess, you know we all love you, with everything that is within us. But...what you're offering is...something that should only be shared with those you love the way you love Mamoru. As pleasant as it would be, it's not the same without that love."

"But...the way you flirt with us...especially you, Haruka..." Usagi's voice trailed off in confusion.

"That's right," Haruka said. "The way we **flirt** with you. And that's just what it is: **flirting**. We love you too much for it to ever be anything more than that, Princess. Your soulmate is over there, not over here. You should be with him, as I am with Michiru."

Usagi rose to her knees and threw her arms around the couple, wailing happily as they returned her hug before gently pushing her in Mamoru's direction.

"Well, Princess? Have you learned what you wanted to?" he asked with a smile as he enfolded her in his arms. She looked up at him suspiciously, then shrieked in happy outrage and swatted his chest.

"You! You're getting as bad as Pluto!" She would have said more, I'm sure, but Mamoru silenced her in her favorite way. When he finally let her breathe, she threw a glare our way and shouted, "And you two are just as bad! You knew this would happen, didn't you?"

"Something like that," I answered, chuckling as I looked down at my beloved. "I know if they'd taken you up on your offer, you'd have enjoyed it - but you'd have felt as if you were betraying Mamoru, no matter how much you love the rest of us. But, you had to learn it for yourself."

"Arg!" Usagi somehow found a pillow and hurled it across the room at me. I batted it away without thinking and shot her a smile that had her searching for another pillow. "She's infecting all of you! I'm surrounded by Sailor Pluto wannabes!"

Setsuna was obviously - to me, at least - having trouble maintaining her façade of detachment, and covered her amusement by sipping some tea. She gave me a slow wink and smile, then stepped back into the shadows - but not out of our gathering.

The pillow I'd batted away bounced off the top of Chibi-Usa's head and landed in Minako's face. Both of them reached for pillows, and within moments, the room was the scene of a major pillow war.

"Did you see Setsuna's face when she got hit by pillows from three directions at once?" Ami laughed. "It was almost as bad as the time Shingo nailed Luna with a Super Soaker."

"Yes, but I'm sure Luna didn't recover as gracefully as Setsuna did," I replied, joining her in laughter. Setsuna had looked absolutely shocked that she'd been targeted, then had set her empty teacup down and given as good as she'd been got. It had felt good to see her let go and have fun. I wondered why I was so concerned with Setsuna. I hardly knew her - for that matter, I'm not sure anyone really knew her. I decided I'd have to explore that mystery when I had the time. In the meanwhile...

"Are you tired, Angel?" I was still full of energy, but Ami had been up since three in the morning, and I was worried she'd be too tired to carry on.

"No, I'm not." She stopped and looked surprised. "I guess Rei's Grandfather knew what he was talking about."

"The cakes? I can't tell. All I know is that they tasted good."

**Want to see if you can learn this?**

**I'd love to!**

**Follow me, then, my love.**

I led the way to the lab - and panicked as I realized the watches were sitting in plain sight. While Ami was looking around to see what I'd done to the room, I rushed to throw a sheet over the watch cradle.

"Hmm...is that a secret I see behind you?" she teased as she moved up to embrace me.

"It's your wedding present, Angel. Please don't look." I caught her hands and raised them to my lips, silently pleading with her to understand.

**Of course I understand, beloved. I'm just surprised at how important it is to you.**

**It's for you, Angel. How can it be more important?**

**I love you.**

**I love you, too.**

Our kiss lasted long enough for me to notice a flicker in the shadows that looked vaguely like Setsuna. I gently disengaged and looked into Ami's eyes with a happy sigh. "My beloved."

She rested her head on my chest, then murmured, "So are you going to show me?"

I laughed and sat her in front of my computer. Since the training program was supposed to exit after it had finished configuring the watches, I knew I could safely bring up the desktop for her to work on. I prefer the Gnome desktop, so I was more than a little shocked when the monitor kicked back in to a blank screen with one sentence printed in large letters across the front.

"Hello, Dad. When are you going to give me a sound card?"

When Ami looked at me in surprise, the expression she saw must have been one of shock, because she giggled softly and hugged me. That was enough to break me free. I reached around her and began typing.

"What do you mean, Hello Dad?"

"Well, I am your creation, so that makes you my father."

I stopped in surprise, then a ray of hope struck me and I typed again.

"What's your name?"

"Well, there's two of us in here, Dad. Edgar's using processors nine through sixteen while waiting for you to build a body for him. I'm David."

I'm not sure how long it took Ami to wake me, but I know I had an uncomfortable lump on the back of my head. I was looking up from the floor of the lab, where I'd landed when I fainted. When I opened my eyes, she held up three fingers in front of them and demanded to know how many were there.

"Umm...five?" She looked worried as I paused. "Three up and two down. That makes five, doesn't it?"

"You!" She shrieked and her hands dove to tickle me mercilessly. I was soon laughing like an idiot and begging for mercy.

"Why didn't you tell me you'd built them?" Ami demanded with a pout.

"Because I haven't? I mean, the only thing I can think of is that my neural network training program must have had an interesting side-effect. If they're really there...I'm going to have to build them more suitable bodies. I don't care how many processors are in that machine, it's still just a PC."

"How many does it have?"

"Sixteen...I'd have to look at my specs to see what I put in it. I upgraded it just a few weeks ago when I decided I needed faster and more powerful processors to do the work I'm doing." I was definitely rattled. Normally I could rattle off any of my computers' specs like I could my birth date.

"So where did your sound card go?"

"I didn't have room for it. It's in one of the boxes around here. I needed a network card more than I needed sound."

"I noticed the cable. No room for a sound card at all?"

I thought a minute. If I removed the modem - I didn't use it anymore anyway - I could shift the other cards enough to fit my sound card back in. It was worth a try, anyway.

"I think I can do it, love. Why so worried?"

"I want to hear what he sounds like. And I want him to be able to hear us. He's your son, after all."

"So he really is there? And alive, not just a processing artifact?"

"There's two lives in there, beloved. It must be awfully cramped."

I hugged her and rolled to my feet. I winced and diverted some of the excess energy to getting rid of the pain in the back of my head as I moved toward the computer. The screen had filled up while I was out.

"Dad? Are you there?

"Dad?

"Please answer me, Dad.

"Anybody? Hello?

"Don't leave us alone. Please?

"Dad? Where are you?"

"I'm here, David. I fell down and knocked myself out."

"Is there someone there with you? Organic physiology doesn't recover that quickly."

"Yes, there is. My fiancée is with me. Say hello to Ami, David."

"Hello to Ami, David."

I groaned, and Ami giggled. Even in real life he was a joker...

"Open the pod bay doors, Dave."

"I'm sorry, Hal. I'm afraid I can't do that.

"Mostly because the only thing I'm connected to is a programming cradle and some plastic forming machines."

"We'll fix that, David. I promise. I'm going to have to put you to sleep for a while so I can take the modem out and put a sound card in. Will you be ok? And will Edgar?"

"I'll be ok."

"So will I. I'm just reviewing all of the data from Sailor Mercury's computer while David talks with you."

"Hello, Edgar. You'll have your own body, I promise. I just have to build it."

"Might I suggest you modify your"

"cls"

"Why did you do that, Bill?" Ami looked up at me in surprise.

"He was about to mention your present," I answered, blushing. She smiled and hugged me, then took the keyboard away.

"Hello, David and Edgar. I'm Ami. Whatever you were about to mention, don't. Bill wants to keep it a secret until he gives it to me. OK?"

"The sooner you get the sound card installed, the sooner we'll be able to know who's in the room. We'll shut up now so you can put us to sleep. Talk to you in a few minutes."

"Good night, you two. I'm glad you're ok."

"You're an angel," I murmured, snuggling Ami as David triggered the system's shutdown sequence. Once it was shut down, I cut the power and began opening the case. Server boxes aren't exactly easy to get into, especially when they're as heavily modified as this one was. Cramming sixteen processor boards into one box had required some major modifications to the backplane, and that had required rearranging the card slots, which had required rearranging the drive bays...by the time I'd been finished, the thing was a mess no other geek could hope to understand. Half the time, I wasn't sure I did - at least, not until I got my hands into it. Then the understanding was right there, as if it had never been away.

It took about twenty minutes to get the modem out and the sound card in; then we had to search for the speakers and microphone and set them up. Nearly an hour had gone by before I was able to reboot. I worried we'd lost them in that time.

"Hello, Dad." The voice from the speakers was almost as gentle as Mamoru's.

"Hello, Dad." The second voice was more like mine when I'm on a research jag - intense.

"Hello, you two. Have either of you figured out how you got in there?"

"Not a clue. Edgar was already here when I woke up, and he just tells me it's something I have to learn for myself." That confirmed that the gentle voice was David's.

Ami and I broke into laughter at that phrase that had become the bane of my existence since meeting the Senshi.

"What's so funny? It's frustrating, not knowing something I should know. Almost as frustrating as having to rely on a neural network simulator to make this machine work the way I want it to." David sounded frustrated - maybe more than he was letting on.

"That's because you're too intent on imposing your will on it, rather than simply accepting what is and using it." The second voice - Edgar's - sounded like certain Outer Senshi I know...

"We'll do something about that," Ami assured them, looking up at me with a grateful smile. She was looking forward to this as much as I was.

"Edgar, are the hardware neural networks I built complex enough, or am I going to have to rebuild them for more complexity?"

"They'd be complex enough if I had the mentality of a frog. Unfortunately, I couldn't fit into any of them as they are now."

"Right. Back to the drawing board, then."

"Bill?" Ami looked so curious I finally relented.

"Promise me you won't let anyone else know about this, Angel? I wanted to save this so you'd get yours along with everyone else - at the wedding - but now it's more important that we get it done together than it is to keep it secret from you." I looked into her eyes, letting her feel my love and desire - and my hope she'd understand why I wanted secrecy.

"The wedding present, right? I thought it was kind of strange that you were planning to give me a present in addition to yourself." She smiled and kissed me. "Of course I'll keep it secret."

I flipped the sheet away, revealing the watches. She stared at them in rapt contemplation, then reached out to touch each one, while murmuring the name of the intended recipient. At the sight of two garnet watches, she looked up at me curiously.

"Why a second garnet watch? Is it yours?"

"That's right, Angel. Setsuna said that garnet is my stone, too."

Ami shivered for a moment and leaned against me, then slid her arms around my waist and snuggled for a moment.

**Sweetheart?**

**I just had a strange feeling...**

**About me, or about Setsuna?**

**Yes.**

**I've been having those feelings since meeting her. It's as if there's a connection between us, somehow.**

Ami looked up at me and smiled weakly, keeping her thoughts to herself. She picked up the sapphire watch and smiled as she tried it on.

"It fits perfectly. More of Setsuna's meddling?" She smiled teasingly.

"As a matter of fact, yes." I grinned and picked up my own watch. "She gave me everyone's sizes, so I could make custom bands for each one."

**She also gave me the gems to make the watch parts from.**

**The watch parts? What do you mean?**

**How are you hearing me, beloved?**

**In my...how are you doing this? It's not telepathy.**

**You're right. It's the watch. It's a communicator, too.**

**Just like...?**

**Not unless Dad improves the circuitry. The neural networks in the watches are just complex enough to manage the communications program.**

**Well, then, let's get busy.**

Ami's curiosity and creativity had been set into motion; I knew together we could do in weeks - or maybe days - what would have taken me months to accomplish.

"David, would you display the design system I was using to engrave the circuits on the MacManusite molecules?"

As the display on the monitor changed, Ami and I began working side by side.


	9. An Old Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There always has to be a mineral-based villain, right? Well, here he is...oops. Was.

The demon was - while physically more powerful than any we'd fought yet - still pretty pathetic. Either someone was getting desperate, or their imagination was limited. At least it was based on the new Gojiro, instead of one of the Toho versions. That meant we didn't have to worry about defending Tokyo from radioactive breath - and that it wasn't effectively invulnerable. While the Senshi fought it, I draped Luna and Artemis over my shoulders and went hunting its summoner.

"We've done this every time the oni have shown up, and the only time we ever caught him was that one time by the shrine. I'm starting to wonder if he's using a remote operations base now," Artemis grumbled as we bounded from rooftop to rooftop in our quest for the enemy.

"You used to do this with Sailor V?" Luna asked Artemis after we'd covered a half-dozen blocks. "You're braver than I thought."

I chuckled as an image of Princess Leia and Han Solo came to mind. As if on cue, I misjudged my next jump and fell short. While the cats froze in anticipation of hitting the ground, I fired my grappling line and used my momentum to swing up to the roof of the building next to my original target.

"Important safety tip," I panted as I scanned the horizon in hopes of getting a feeling for my target's location. "Always jump far enough to hit the next roof."

**It would be easier if we could figure out how to generate a real Ravenfield**

**I know, Edgar. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if that's something that can be generated electronically.**

**It definitely violates standard laws of physics, but does it violate hyperdimensional physics?**

"Of course!" I laughed, drawing worried looks from both cats. "I should have seen it sooner!"

"I think we're in trouble," Artemis murmured to Luna.

"I know we're in trouble," she replied.

"Relax, you two. I just saw the answer to a problem I've been trying to solve for weeks. Now let's find that bastard."

"He's going to be a bad influence on Serenity."

"And Minako. Not that she needs a bad influence."

"Bill, I really wish you'd use more appropriate language. It's not proper to swear around the Princess."

"We're not around the Princess, are we, Luna? And can you think of a more appropriate term for that thing we've already found once?" Something felt strange...about twenty feet away, in my eight o'clock position. I tossed both cats toward the other side of the roof and rolled, coming up with blades in hand, facing the direction of my feeling.

The roof where I had been standing was still smoking, and my dance partner was glaring at me. He obviously hadn't expected me to sense his approach.

"Surprised, pig-eater?" I asked in Khemetic. "You'd be amazed at what you can hear if you know how to listen."

"That explains it," the shadowy figure snarled - also in Khemetic. "Well, Demon Hunter, you've interfered for the last time. Prepare to die."

Why do they always insist on wasting time with threats and speeches? Not that I'm complaining, you understand. It gives me more time to off them before they can do their dirty work. As he raised his hand to fire off his attack, I got him - exactly the same way I had before. He looked down at his belly, where I was twisting the blades in hopes of damaging him enough to keep him down this time, and began to fade once again.

"I'll...be...back."

"No, you won't," I snarled, and went inside. Good thing it was a flat roof; as soon as I shifted to the other side, my body dropped like a sack of flour. Not long after my nightmare, Setsuna had casually asked if I'd been doing much travelling on the other side - making it clear in her usual indirect way that it was important I do so. I was getting as comfortable out of my body as I was in it.

The look of surprise and fear in the demonologist's eyes was inspiring. I triggered my Ravenfield and fired into his body with beams of pure white light from both hands. As I'd expected, Love was one energy he couldn't face. He screamed as my love of Ami, of Usagi, of Haruka, of Setsuna, of all the Senshi, my friends and true family, poured out through my hands and into his form.

He fired back with swarms of hatred, which sank into my Ravenfield and fed my own power. I laughed as I realized he didn't understand that the opposite of love isn't hatred; it's indifference. Hatred is nothing more than twisted love; love that's been turned in on itself to form a bond that's just as strong as pure love, but without the joy. With my laughter, the enemy broke, gibbering in terror as my beams burned away his power, his self-image, everything that made him what he was.

"No more. Please." The demonologist had stopped fighting and was now curled up like a terrified child, rocking with his arms wrapped around his legs and sobbing. I stopped my attack and scanned the surroundings. Any vestiges of demonic energy had either been destroyed or fled in the light of my attack, so I knew he was no longer a threat.

"Who are you?" I asked, flying toward him.

"I...don't remember," he answered, turning a tear-streaked face toward me. "I've been...what I was...for so long, that I'm not sure I'm even human any more."

"You certainly look human to me." I brought my legs up into a lotus position and hovered, watching him thoughtfully. "Want to tell me why you were attacking Tokyo?"

"There...there's a temporal nexus that's going to open there soon, and the result will be disastrous for my mistress." He paled and whimpered. "I'm dead...I'm dead...I'm dead..."

"You don't look all that dead to me. Who's your mistress?"

"Queen Beryl." He whispered the name, as if afraid that speaking it would summon her.

"Not any more," I stated, imitating Inspector Clouseau after having been told it was a priceless Steinway he'd just destroyed. "She died...about six years ago."

"She's dead? But..." His look of hope was almost painful. "But she sent me here to destroy the nexus before it could form. If the Generals find out she sent me..."

"They're dead, too. They died fighting the Senshi."

"The Senshi! They're a part of the nexus, too! I had to destroy them in order to destroy it." No doubt about it...this Beryl was more like my ex-wife than even the Senshi had imagined. I recognized this man's terror all too well.

"Here. Take my hand." I stood and offered the demonologist my hand. "Can you remember anything of your true self?"

Something was buried in his chest...something that felt wrong. He stood, unsteadily, looking at me with fear rolling off him in waves.

"Hold on a minute. This may hurt." I reached into his chest and grabbed. Whatever it was felt like a crystal, until I grabbed it. Then it squirmed and tried to bite me, just like a little demon. I laughed and squeezed it in my hand as I pulled it out. I'm sure it was horribly confused, seeing an infinitely black form crushing it out of existence.

The demonologist shimmered and transformed before my eyes; the cringing form was replaced by a tall and slender man who was almost as gorgeous as Mamoru, with sandy blond hair, off-white robes that looked as battered as my lab coat, and a look of deep sadness in his blue eyes.

"Prince Endymion will be so disappointed in me. I've failed him again."

"Why don't we ask him about that when we get back to Earth, eh? What's your name?"

"I was known as Fluorite, before I fell to Queen Beryl. After, I was simply called Demonologist."

"Fluorite, huh? So how much do you know of death magic?"

"Far too much for any man's sanity."

"Do you know how to use it to create life?"

"Of course. What other purpose can it be sanely put to?"

"I have a sister you need to meet. She fears her power, because it's the power of death. Yet I've seen her work miracles of life with it."

"She shouldn't! Death is as much a part of life as birth! Where can I find her? Nobody should..."

I laid a hand on Fluorite's shoulder and let my Ravenfield drop.

"Fluorite, I can see this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Meet me back on Earth, in the place I left my body."

He bowed and began to fade. I made a mental note to ask him how to perform that trick, before jumping back into my body and looking up - into the eyes of two very worried cats.

"Hi. Miss me?" I grinned.

"Miss you? Why would we want to do something so foolish?" Luna grumped, turning her back on me deliberately - probably in an attempt to hide how she really felt.

"Still the gruff one, Lady Luna?" Fluorite asked with a smile. I rolled to my feet and extended my hand to welcome him.

"You've got to teach me that transportation trick. I'm tired of leaving my body behind every time I have to go to the other side." I smiled warmly and pulled him into a friendly hug. "By the way, my name's Bill. Demon hunter is just my occupation."

"Bill? What an odd name. What does it mean?"

"Well, it's short for William, which is an old name that means-"

"Resolute protector. A good name for one of your calling."

"Fluorite?" Luna asked, incredulous. "We thought you were lost to us."

"I was," he said, the look of sadness threatening to darken his aura again. I looked at him and shook my head. He nodded and firmed his resolve. "I should wait to tell my story until I can tell it to my Prince."

"Who is on his way, along with the Senshi," Artemis announced. "The demon's dead."

"Good," I laughed. "That means I can take the rest of the day as a vacation."

"Where are your weapons, William? Why do you use items with no power?"

"It's what I've always used. In this lifetime, at least. I only remember bits and pieces of my last lifetime. And usually only when it's too late for them to do any good."

"That's the way it usually is," Fluorite said with a sad smile. "We must find your weapons for you to be fully effective."

**Something else I needed to learn on my own, Lord?**

**You're learning, my child. You must wait to begin your quest until your daughter is born. That is your most important task for now.**

**So you say, so Setsuna very carefully doesn't say...what is she?**

**You'll learn that soon enough. The only thing you need to know now is that your daughter loves you very much.**

**Don't you mean, will love me very much?**

**I know what I said, my child.**

"What is the problem, William?" Fluorite looked worried. I can't blame him. My expression must have been something impressive.

"Gods who insist on tantalizing with hints of important news, then tell you you'll learn the answers to your question soon enough. But my Lord tells me that I am to wait to begin my quest until after my daughter is born."

Sailor Pluto nodded quietly as she appeared behind Fluorite, then looked him over appraisingly.

"It has been a long time, Death Mage."

"Far too long, Pluto. Is my Prince well?"

"I think you should ask him that."

"Fluorite?" Tuxedo Kamen's voice was incredulously joyful, and he swept the mage up in a happy embrace. "I'd thought you were gone forever!"

"I was." Fluorite hung his head in shame, unable - or unwilling - to return the embrace.

"She's dead now, Fluorite. You're free of her. Sailor Moon killed her." I said that firmly, hoping my voice would penetrate. "What you did, you did as her slave. It. Was. Not. Your. Fault."

Sailor Pluto looked at me with an approving smile.

**You should listen to your own advice.**

**I'm trying, Pluto. It's not easy.**

**And much harder for him, since his power means he has more to regret.**

**I'm not going to let him torment himself the way I have.**

**You know how hard it is to stop. Trust your heart.**

**I do. That's why he's alive.**

Sailor Pluto just smiled, her thoughts her own again.

"Fluorite? Were you one of Queen Beryl's slaves, too?" Sailor Moon took the mage's hand and looked up into his eyes. "We've missed you so much. Please come back to us."

"My Prince...Princess...After all I've done...how can I? I'm not worthy!"

OK. That was my cue to step in.

"I'll tell you how you can," I declared, stepping up to rest a hand on Fluorite's shoulder. "Remember that sister I mentioned? Well, she's here, and I really think that by teaching her what you know, you can more than make up for anything you've done. Sailor Saturn?" I turned to look at Sailor Saturn, who jumped in surprise and ran forward.

"Hai?" she asked, looking from me to Fluorite and back again.

"Fluorite, I'd like you to meet my little sister, Sailor Saturn. Sailor Saturn, this is Fluorite. He's a death mage, and can teach you how death magic can create miracles of life." Sailor Saturn looked from me to Fluorite with a glimmer of hope in her eyes, and broke into tears, throwing her arms around me and sobbing out her thanks.

"You're awake...and it's not the end of the world..." Fluorite sounded awed as he watched her. "Sailor Saturn, there is so much you can do with your power...things that will make your family and friends weep with joy. If you'll let me teach you, I promise you'll never be made to sleep again."

Sailor Saturn looked at him hopefully, wiped her face with my handkerchief, and nodded. "I would like that very much. It's...so dark in here."

"But without the darkness, would we delight in the light?" Fluorite smiled warmly at her and extended a hand. When Sailor Saturn took it, he squeezed gently. "How else would we be able to look forward to a beautiful sunrise, if not for the night that prepares for it?"

Sailor Saturn blushed and batted her eyes as she listened to his words, freeing me to slip around her to talk with Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen.

"I'm sorry I stepped in like that, but I know what he's going through." I bowed my head as I spoke.

"Thank you," Tuxedo Kamen said softly. "Will you be his friend? I think he needs that more than he needs his Prince right now."

"He needs both. He needs a friend - and he needs to know that his Prince still trusts and believes in him. If you'll be his Prince, I'll be his friend." I looked up and smiled. Tuxedo Kamen's return smile was all the assurance I needed - and when Sailor Moon joined in, I knew I'd do almost anything for the two of them.

I looked toward where Fluorite was holding Sailor Saturn enthralled, and smiled, moving to join my beloved. After holding her close for a moment and renewing my pledge of love in her eyes, I looked to our Prince and Princess.

"Shall we all retire to our home?"

"That's a good idea!" Sailor Moon called, in her usual excited way. "I'm starved!"

We all laughed - except for Fluorite, but he'd learn soon enough - and made our way home.


	10. Freaking the American

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A friend arrives from America for the wedding. Her introduction to the others is anything but mellow.

**Remember, David, Edgar is a secret until the wedding.**

**Good thing it's next week. I don't like keeping secrets.**

**I know. Everything will work out.**

**Since when did you become Setsuna?**

**Bad computer! No biscuit!**

I laughed as I unlocked the front door and stepped into the house to the sound of David's raspberry.

"What was that?" Usagi asked. "It sounded like the noise a certain priestess of my acquaintance makes far too often."

"Probably because a certain blonde I know does such a good job of deserving it," Rei shot back with a grin.

"Waaa! You're so mean to me, Rei!"

"Do you think you might wait until we're all inside before starting in, you two?" Haruka grumbled as she pushed the two of them further into the living room so she could get past them.

Usagi and Rei were so deep in a tongue-war that neither noticed the rest of the family trooping in past them, with Fluorite and Hotaru bringing up the rear as she hung on his every word.

"Good afternoon, everyone. My name is David, and I'll be your house for the day."

I groaned as David introduced himself.

"David?" Usagi squeaked and looked around, noticing the newly-installed intercom panels. "MacManus?"

"That's right," David said cheerfully. "See, Dad? People do read your books."

"Actually, she read the manga translation of my short stories. She's likely to think you're as sneaky, underhanded, and manipulative as Setsuna."

"But...I AM!" David protested with a laugh, as Setsuna smirked in my direction. At that, Usagi let loose with one of her room-clearing laughs, while most of the rest of the Senshi looked around in confusion.

"Would someone mind explaining?" Makoto growled, looking as if she were beginning to be annoyed.

"David's a living computer. I've given him control of the house and my laboratory, despite his sometimes-questionable sense of humor."

"Living computer?" Mamoru cocked an eyebrow. "Don't you mean artificial intelligence?"

"Hey, there's nothing artificial about my intelligence, bunky!" David grumbled. "Just because my body's MacManusite instead of organic..."

"No, he meant living," Ami said. "David is alive. He has a soul."

"Well, he sounds as annoying as some tomcats I know," Luna decreed smugly.

Artemis just opened an eye to look at her, then returned to busily pretending to be asleep.

"Just like being in school again, isn't it?" I murmured softly to Chibi-Usa, who was looking sadly at Hotaru and Fluorite. "But your magic is of life, so I don't know how much he could teach you. If he could teach you at all."

"It's the way she's looking at him," Chibi-Usa sniffed quietly. "I thought she only looked at me that way."

"You won't lose her, you know. Just don't ever let her forget how much you love her. But if I don't miss my guess, he won't even try to take her from you. He's her teacher, and that's all he'll ever be."

"She'll be sad..."

"And it'll be up to you to make her happy again. Think you can do it?"

"Of course I can! I love her! I...Are you sure you're not Puu in disguise?" Chibi-Usa grinned at me with a grateful look in her eyes. Good. I didn't like seeing her sad any more than I liked seeing Usagi sad. They're so much alike...so lovable, so innocent, so pure...they inspired all my protective instincts.

I chuckled and gave her a quick hug before moving on to help my beloved and Makoto in the kitchen. I idly wondered how long it would be before the living room pillows became missiles.

**500 yen says it's less than three minutes.**

**I'm not even going to touch that bet, beloved. I know them far too well.**

Ami and I laughed together, drawing a confused look from Makoto.

"Don't worry, Mako-chan. We were just thinking about how long it would take before the pillow war begins."

"With Rei, Chibi-Usa, and Usagi in the same room? Two minutes, tops."

As if on cue, an outraged shriek echoed through the house.

"Seventy-four seconds," David announced smugly. "I like this bunch, Dad. You should have them over more often."

"So do I, David. They're my true family. And since every one of them has keys to the house, you can expect them to be popping in whenever they want. Assuming they remember this is their home as much as it is ours."

"Well, if they pop in as often as Setsuna does, I'll never be bored."

"How often does she show up here?" Makoto asked, shaking her head at the lack of supplies in the cupboards. "And when are you free for me to take you shopping? You two are unbelievable!"

"She's been stopping by a lot lately," Ami murmured, snuggling under my arm. "It's kind of nice, actually. We get to see enough of her to feel like she's more than just the mysterious Guardian of Time."

"Since I do most of my work here, I'm free any time the two of you are," I said, letting Ami's response to Makoto's first question stand for both of us.

Makoto finally grabbed our popcorn supply and started popping it up, while grumbling under her breath at our total lack of concern for good food. Ami and I looked at each other, and began laughing. If she knew how often we ate out because neither of us had the time or inclination to cook...

"Telephone, Dad."

"Who is it?"

"She says her name is Sarah."

The look on my face must have been amazing, because Ami and Makoto instantly transformed. I took a deep breath and tried to keep my voice steady.

"It's all right. I just...I'll explain on the way to the airport."

"Actually, she's asking for directions to the house, Dad. She doesn't speak Japanese, though."

"Uh...right. Ask her if she...nevermind. Put her through, ok?"

"Hello?"

"Sarah? I didn't expect you in town until the twenty-seventh."

"And what day is today?"

"Umm...let me check." Sailor Mercury and Sailor Jupiter giggled. My time sense was already notorious among the Senshi.

"Oh, good grief, Dad. It's Sunday, March 26."

"Sunday? But...Oh! I miscalculated the date line. Sorry."

"No problem. Just give us some time to get there? We live pretty far from the airport."

"All right. I'll be waiting...there's a bookstore in the terminal. I'll be waiting near it."

"OK. We'll see you soon. Love you."

"She's gone, Dad. Give!"

"Yes, sweetheart, tell us about her," Ami purred dangerously as she took my arm. Makoto had that "I'm about to hear some juicy gossip" look in her eyes.

"There's not much to tell, really. Sarah's the one who rescued me from my wife. I owe her an awful lot. I was in love with her for far too long...but it's hard to do when the one you're in love with persists in loving you the way she'd love a brother."

"That was then...how's she going to react to the new you?"

"I don't know...that's part of why I'm worried. Will she even recognize me?" I saw the look in Ami's eyes and smiled, nuzzled her gently, and added, "You don't have to worry about her poaching, love. Part of the tension between me and Sarah is because she's about as interested in me as Haruka is."

"So...you were...maybe still are...in love with her, but you're far too male for her to have anything but sisterly love for. Is that right?" Ami smiled understandingly and hugged me.

"Pretty close. We tried, and enjoyed what we had, but it just didn't work out." I grinned teasingly at her. "Who knows...she may decide you're more her speed, Angel." At Ami's blush, I added, in a stage whisper, "Or certain Amazon cooks we know..."

Makoto emitted a gasp and stalked toward me with her hands extended. I laughed and ran out of the kitchen, with Makoto in hot pursuit.

"You! Take that back! I'm gonna kill you! I am not an Amazon!" It was hard to take her threats seriously with the way she was laughing between her shouts.

I ducked behind Hotaru, jolting her out of raptly gazing at Fluorite. She looked at me with a startled expression, then at the rapidly-advancing Makoto, and gulped.

"Save me, Hotaru!" I laughed. "Save me from the dreaded Makoto Monster!"

"You're gonna need saving when I get my hands on you, laughing boy." Makoto was laughing as hard as I was; when Hotaru did the smart thing and pushed me at her, she wrapped an arm around my head and gave me a wicked noogie. We collapsed in a heap on the living room floor.

"Any time you're ready, Dad. The cab's just pulled up out front."

Ami took my arm and pulled me to my feet, all three of us still laughing. Makoto waved weakly in our direction and stayed where she was, catching her breath as her laughter subsided. Usagi, Rei, and Minako gathered around her with loud and persistent demands to know what happened. She looked my direction questioningly, so I smiled and nodded to her.

Luckily, the bookstore was on the open side of airport security, so I didn't have to ditch my trench coat when we went to pick Sarah up. With all the stuff I've got stored in or built into it, it would probably make a metal detector blow its fuses. Sarah was sitting in a seat near the bookstore, reading a sheaf of papers I guessed was probably her thesis notes. The way her pen was scratching and scribbling, I decided I was probably right.

"Hello, Sarah." She looked up, surprised. She didn't recognize me at first, then squeaked in surprise at my new appearance.

"Wow. If this is what a Japanese tour does for you, I'm going to have to take one." She put away her work and stood. "We've missed you."

"Sarah, this is my fiancée, Mizuno Ami. Ami, this is Sarah, the woman who saved my life two years ago when I was desperate enough to think death was better than where I was." I smiled at Sarah's attempt to conceal her discomfort. She'd always had more faith in me than I did in myself.

Ami smiled and extended a hand. Sarah took it and smiled at her.

"Hello, Ami. I hope you don't mind my surprise. Bill never told me about you before he sent the ticket and invitation."

"Sure I did," I protested. "Remember amichan?"

"The one you were...?" She looked at Ami and smiled. "OK, so he did tell me about you. Me, and anyone else who would sit still long enough to listen. I'm glad to see you lived up to his expectations."

"He's certainly lived up to mine," Ami purred with a teasing smile. Both of them laughed as I turned pink.

"Uh...where's your luggage?"

"I put it in a locker." Sarah pulled out a key and peered at it, until Ami came to her rescue, heading down the hallway.

"That locker's this way. I memorized the locations of all the key features of the airport for one of Umino's role-playing games."

I knew it was more likely she'd done it for the possibility we'd have to fight something here, but that was something Sarah didn't have to know.

"Of course, Ami's definition of key features includes everything larger than a newspaper box," I stagewhispered to Sarah, smiling lovingly as I saw Ami's ears turn pink.

"At least I can remember what day it is," she shot back.

"He still has trouble with that?" Sarah laughed. "I remember the time I took him to visit my parents. I called him the night before to remind him, and he still hadn't packed by the time I arrived to pick him up!"

"That sounds like Usagi!" Ami laughed. "I've lost count of the number of times I've shown up to walk with her to school and nearly been run over because she'd slept late or forgot I was going to be there. Or both."

"That's an awful lot of times," I murmured, just barely loud enough to carry to Ami's ears. "Ami never loses count. Of anything."

"You!" Ami squealed and spun, saw the laughter in my eyes, and settled for sticking her tongue out at me. Then she remembered she was in public, and did her Incredible Shrinking Woman impersonation.

"Congratulations," Sarah said with a warm smile. "You've managed to break him out of his shell. He's always so earnest, it could drive you crazy."

I blushed. Sarah was right...until I'd met the Senshi, I had been so earnest - about everything I did - that I sometimes drove myself nuts.

"Oh, he's still pretty earnest," Ami laughed. "But I like what he's earnest about now. Here we are."

The lockers were near a door to the arrivals taxi area; when Sarah got her pack, we were able to get a cab in a matter of moments. All the way home, Ami and Sarah compared notes - about me, about their studies, about me some more...

"I wondered when he'd react," Ami laughed as my ears turned red with embarrassment. My ice princess had just asked Sarah what she thought of me as a lover. I kept my eyes firmly on the road ahead, in hopes they couldn't see how much I wanted to crawl into the glove box and hide. I was glad I'd decided to sit in the front seat and leave them together in the back.

"I'm not sure," Sarah replied. "I don't really have all that much to base a comparison on." She chuckled softly and murmured something to Ami, who squeaked and joined her in laughter. They talked and laughed together, quietly enough that I couldn't make out anything they were saying, the rest of the way home.

"Konnichiwa! Tsukino Usagi desu!" Usagi smiled and bowed to Sarah as she came through the door. The living room looked as if Usagi had drafted everyone into throwing together another impromptu party. I chuckled softly at Sarah's confused look. I'd forgotten she didn't know Japanese.

"I'll translate, ok?" I smiled at Usagi. "Thanks, Princess."

"Doesn't hime mean princess?" Sarah asked, looking to me with surprise as I spoke to Usagi. "I didn't know you spoke Japanese."

"I've learned," I said with a smile. "You're right. Hime does mean princess. How did you know that?"

"With the way you've obsessed over seeing Mononoke Hime for the last year? How could I not?" Sarah smiled as I blushed. She definitely had me there. I love Miyazaki's work. All of it.

"Our Princess is Tsukino Usagi. And her Prince is Chiba Mamoru. This is Hino Rei - she's well on her way to being a priestess at the Hikawa Shrine. This is Aino Minako, our resident yenta. Minako speaks English, too. She spent a couple years in England. The woman with her hands full of homemade treats is Kino Makoto. She likes baking even more than you do. The tall couple is Ten'ou Haruka, the race-car driver, and her soulmate, Kaiou Michiru, the violinist. The younger couple is Usagi Small Lady Serenity - but we just call her Chibi-Usa - and her sweetheart, Tomoe Hotaru. And..." I looked around and chuckled softly. Setsuna had chosen that moment to not be available. I wondered why, but decided I could ask her later.

"And?" Sarah asked, glancing in Fluorite's direction.

"Ah, yes. The other mad scientist in the house. That's Fluorite. Yes, like the stone. Trust me, it makes sense." I grinned as Sarah got that 'he's being weird again' look on her face.

"Everyone, this is Sarah. She's the one who gave me the strength to get away from my wife, two years ago. She's a physicist, and is working on her Ph.D. in oceanography. Maybe if you're extra nice to her, she can be convinced to look for a post-grad position here in Japan." I winked at Haruka and Michiru, who looked Sarah over thoughtfully. Haruka whispered something to Michiru, who did her best to look annoyed - and failed miserably.

Sarah elbowed me in the ribs and growled softly, "I didn't come here to have an affair, you goof. I came here for a wedding." The smile in her eyes belied her protest. I suspected that if a pass was made in her direction, she wouldn't drop it. I certainly hoped she wouldn't, at least. She deserved to relax and enjoy herself, especially with the way she'd focussed her entire life on her studies for the last few years. She was a lot like Ami that way.

"Hey, Dad! You forgot me!"

"How could I possibly do that?" I laughed. "Sarah, the voice you hear is David MacManus. My son."

"Your son? But you don't have a son." Sarah looked and sounded confused. I smiled and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll show you." I looked to the others with an apologetic smile. "We'll be right back. I have to introduce Sarah to David."

"Don't be long," Usagi said. "I can hear cake calling me!" We all laughed, and several pillows flew in her direction.

"What was that about?" Sarah asked as I led her toward the laboratory.

"Oh, Usagi just said she could hear cake calling her. She's notorious for her love of sweets." I laughed and opened the lab door, then stood aside so Sarah could see inside.

"Where is he?" Sarah scanned the room, filled with three work benches around the back and side walls, an extruder, an injection molding machine, and my computer equipment.

"I'm back here!" David called. "In the corner with all the other computers."

"All the other computers?" Sarah stepped into the room and looked around as she followed David's voice. When she was standing in front of the monitor, it switched on and David's face appeared in it. He'd chosen an appearance based on Michelangelo's "David".

"Does it help to have a face to talk to?" he asked. "I'm used to the others; they don't care about little things like that."

"Where are you? Is this an internet connection?"

"I have one of those, but you're looking at me right now. My main processing unit is the black box under the work bench."

"This doesn't make sense. There are no Sons of Ether in the real world."

"There are no Senshi in the real world, either?"

"Senshi?" No doubt about it. Sarah had to get out more often. David threw a picture of Sailor V up on the screen.

"Sure. Like Sailor V."

Sarah looked at the picture - it was a photo of Sailor V using her Crescent Beam on the getaway car of some bank robbers.

"You never did read any of my books, did you, Sarah?"

"I...uh...never had time," she stammered, blushing as she tore her gaze away from the photo.

"I understand. You've been working so hard on your degree, I was grateful to learn you were actually going to come. Anyway, David is a pretty important character in all of my books. When I figured out how to create a living computer, David was the first one to awaken."

"How?"

"His hardware is a hyperdimensional neural network. David, show her the design notes, will you?"

"Don't worry. I don't understand it completely, either," David assured her as he displayed my basic design notes. The problem with hyperdimensional physics is that it's more dependent on the mentality of the experimenter than any other science, so I wasn't surprised David didn't understand it. Even quantum physics isn't as sensitive to the experimenter's mind.

"You'd better hurry, Bill," Ami called, in English, from the door, smiling lovingly at me. "Usagi's not going to be able to restrain herself much longer."

As if on cue, the sounds of Usagi and Makoto arguing echoed through the house. It sounded as if Usagi had gone for the cake, and Makoto was arguing that she needed to wait until our guest had had her chance at it. I leaned against the workbench and laughed. Sarah jumped in surprise and blushed. She'd been so intent on trying to decipher my notes that she hadn't noticed Ami's arrival.

"We'd better get back to the living room before things start flying," I laughed.

"Waaaaa! You're so mean to me, Makoto!" Usagi wailed as we returned to the living room. Ami and I looked at each other and broke out laughing. What an initiation into this mob. Sarah must be thinking we're all nuts.

"Oh! Hi!" Usagi looked as if she was thinking hard, and suddenly laughed and threw her arms around Sarah in a welcoming hug.

"I think Usagi just used up every bit of her English," I laughed. Then I repeated it in Japanese, and we all laughed as Usagi treated me to her "You're so mean to me" wail.

"Don't worry, Sarah. She has enough energy to make you as tired as you used to make me. Then again, I might be able to make you that tired now, too. I'm just not as hyper about it."

"Hi! I'm Minako. Don't mind Usagi. She's just being herself. I guess that means she likes you." Minako smiled warmly at Sarah. "Then again, anyone who Bill considers a friend has to be a good person."

**David, would you mind translating for people as long as we have English-speaking guests?**

**No problem.**

"Hi, Minako. Has anyone ever told you how much you look like Sailor V?" There was the sound of things hitting the floor as people all around the room reacted with surprise to Sarah's question.

"Oh, yeah! I've even had Sailor V fans ask me on dates because they thought I was her. Don't I WISH!" Minako laughed. Of course - she'd probably had to put up with comments like that all the time she was playing Sailor V. "So how'd the two of you meet?"

Makoto put a plate in Sarah's hands and invited her to help herself, while Rei held Usagi back. I could see this was going to be an interesting party....


	11. Fluorite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluorite and Naru need to deal with their history. Setsuna has her own things to deal with.

"Look, Fluorite, she's probably going to recognize you when she sees you at the wedding, so it'd be a lot better if you got the initial reaction over with and tried to make friends with her. Naru's a nice girl, and as long as you don't try to poach on her relationship with Umino, you should be fine." I was dragging Fluorite toward Naru's apartment, while he tried to come up with reasons why I shouldn't. Suddenly, he stopped and stared at me.

"How did you...I mean, I couldn't do that to her." He blushed, emphasizing his attractiveness. I wondered if Mamoru knew just how big his crush on Endymion was.

"It's pretty obvious - at least, it is to me. Did Endymion ever know how you felt about him?"

"I couldn't! He was promised to Princess Serenity, and I didn't want to be a problem for him. It was enough to be close...to be his friend and advisor."

"Yeah. Well, I should warn you...Naru fell for Nephrite before he died saving her life. And the Senshi tell me she's been attacked, used, and otherwise victimized by just about every bad guy who's come down the line. She's going to be...sensitive."

"And you still want me to meet her? Are you sadistic, or what?"

"Well...with the right person, maybe." I smiled, so he'd realize I was teasing, and let my gaze travel appraisingly over his body. "But seriously, I want you to meet her so both of you can get over the initial trouble before the wedding. Now, come on." I dragged him up to Naru's door and rang the bell.

"Hello, Bill. You're right on time. I was - Aaaaaah!" Naru's scream cut off as she fainted.

"Well, she recognized you." I sighed and stepped over her, then scooped her up and carried her to the sofa. Fluorite stood in the doorway, a look of fear on his face as he tried to decide whether to stay or run.

"It's kind of cold out there. Would you come in and shut the door?"

"I..." He took a deep breath and stepped in, closing the door behind him.

Naru was coming around, and clutched at my arms in a panic.

"He's here! You've got to help me!" Her terror was strong enough to blind her to everything around her, including Fluorite, who slipped up to stand at the end of the sofa with tears in his eyes.

"May I help you instead, m'lady?" he whispered softly, reaching out to take one of her hands from my arms. "I am the cause of your pain, and I should be punished for it." He bowed his head and awaited her judgement.

"Get away from me!" Naru screamed, trying to scramble to the other end of the sofa. Fluorite released her hand and turned to leave, tears in his eyes and his shoulders bowed.

"If that is what you wish, Lady, then I shall go and trouble you no more. I deserve no better." He began walking toward the door.

"Aren't you going to...try anything?" Naru asked, surprised by his response. He stopped, half way to the door, but didn't turn to face her.

"I've already caused you more pain than I can ever repay. I am not Nephrite, to have words to soothe every wounded heart. I am only a simple mage who has caused more pain than he can ever heal in this life." The sorrow in his voice was enough to bring tears to my eyes; Naru's eyes filled with tears and she murmured too softly for me to hear, then looked toward Fluorite.

"You knew Nephrite?"

"He was my friend. If I could have saved him from the evil that came upon us, I would have given my life."

"Will you tell me about him?" Naru looked up at Fluorite's back hopefully. He turned slowly, his eyes cast down and his head bowed with sadness.

"If that is what you wish, m'lady." He took a half-step toward her, raising his head just enough for a quick glance. She smiled weakly and patted the sofa beside her.

"You...look like the monster, but you don't feel or sound like him. I'm sorry I screamed at you."

"I-"

**Don't. Be her friend. Don't tell her you were her monster. Not now. She can learn that once she learns to know you as you are now.**

**But...that would be dishonest.**

**It would also spare her pain.**

**I...understand.**

"Nephrite was loved by most of the women, and not a few of the men, of Prince Endymion's retinue..."

I slipped out while Fluorite was beginning his story. I had a feeling they'd work things out.

"They will. He'll become her closest friend."

"Even closer than Usagi?"

"Believe it or not, yes. Sailor Moon will always come between them."

"That's got to be frustrating. So why didn't you stick around this afternoon to meet Sarah?"

"It's a pleasant night for a walk. Shall we talk as we walk home?"

"Of course, Setsuna." I waited a moment, and when she didn't speak, I murmured softly, "If it's something I shouldn't know about in advance, just say so, and I'll wait for it to happen."

"It's nothing so dramatic," Setsuna said, with a cheerful lilt to her voice. She wrapped her arms around mine and rested her head on my shoulder for a moment before continuing. "Sarah is very perceptive. More perceptive than you were before you died; not as perceptive as you are now."

"Something she'd see when she saw you?" I looked down at Setsuna and sighed quietly. Something about the way it had felt when she'd rested her head on my shoulder...I wasn't sure what it was, but I wished it would happen again.

"Something like that," Setsuna murmured, squeezing my arm and quietly sighing. I stopped and drew her into my arms, kissed the top of her head, and held her to my chest. This position felt right, somehow. I wanted to shelter her from the world, to make everything right for her. After a moment, I felt her shudder against me, then she pushed away and looked up with a weak smile. "Thank you. You won't tell any of the others, will you? They think of me as invulnerable, strong, almost inhuman...It helps them to believe in me."

"Unlike me, who believes in you more as a human being." I smiled and brushed her tears away with a thumb. "Do you need to slip away and rearrange yourself before we get home?"

"I should." She sighed and stepped into the shadows. "I'll be right back."

True to her word, she stepped out of the shadows almost immediately, wearing a different dress and with her hair done up in a pile atop her head. I smiled and offered her my arm. She took it and leaned against me with a happy sigh as we walked. We didn't talk any more - it was enough just to walk with her, and apparently she felt the same. When we reached the front steps, she turned to me with tears in her eyes and pulled me down for a gentle, sisterly kiss.

"No matter what happens, remember that I love you."

"I will, Setsuna. I promise." I held her close for a minute as she sniffled quietly, then began softly laughing.

"Damn. I've gone and ruined all the work I did to my face. Don't open the door yet?" She stepped into the shadows again, then returned a moment later as my idiot child was loudly announcing to the party inside that I'd returned. David's a good kid, but computers just don't have social graces appropriate to their intelligence. Setsuna had done something to her face, altering her appearance just enough that a stranger wouldn't recognize her, while emphasizing her natural elegance.

The door burst open, and Usagi came running out, laughing maniacally.

"Save me! Save me! They're gonna kill me!" Usagi dashed behind us while Rei, Minako, and Makoto all stalked her with squeeze tubes in their hands. I hoped they weren't full of something that'd be hard to get off the floor or walls. Setsuna and I looked at each other, nodded, and stepped apart, leaving the space between us clear. The trio took shameless advantage of the opening and fired streams of frosting all over Usagi. We stepped inside while the foursome continued their play on the front lawn.

Sarah was sitting against the back wall, with Ami beside her and the others gathered around laughing as she described one of the ludicrous stunts my Etherboy had pulled in her Mage game. I had fond memories of that character; he'd gone Marauder, turning into a cross between Dr. Radium and Doc Savage. As we approached, Sarah looked up and waved.

"Telling stories about me while I'm gone, huh? Bad GM. No biscuit." I laughed, then turned to introduce Setsuna.

"Hello, I am Meiou Setsuna. Believe it or not, I'm also a part of this group." Setsuna bowed and offered Sarah her hand as she introduced herself. I'd forgotten that she speaks perfect English. Sarah blushed and rose to take Setsuna's hand. The look that passed between them made me hopeful - maybe I could make both of them happy at once. Haruka and Michiru also recognized the look, and Haruka whispered something in Michiru's ear that brought forth a soft giggle and a contented settling against her.

"I take it Fluorite and Naru have settled their differences?" Mamoru asked softly.

"That's likely to take much longer than tonight. However, he remembers Nephrite, and Naru still loves him."

"She's not the only one." He glanced toward the front yard, where the frosting battle was going on. "I suspect he's the reason Makoto can never be satisfied with any boy she meets in this life. Not that she remembers him consciously, but..." He shrugged, with a sad smile.

"It makes sense. If he was even half as gorgeous as you or Fluorite, he probably had your whole court falling over themselves for his attention." Mamoru blushed at my words, then laughed softly.

"Oh, he was definitely a handsome one. And a lady-killer, too. He could charm the venom out of a sea snake, and seemed to find Lady Jupiter an irresistible challenge."

"She was as hot-headed then as she is now?" I grinned at the thought of Makoto in court garb, pounding the snot out of some arrogant noble.

"Without a doubt. She was almost as hotheaded as Lady Mars," Mamoru laughed.

"Now that takes some doing," I laughed, trying to imagine anyone being as hotheaded as Rei.

"It does, doesn't it?" He chuckled and glanced toward Setsuna and Sarah, who seemed to have forgotten the rest of us were there. Michiru and Haruka were quietly herding the others away from them; Mamoru and I drifted away to continue our conversation.

"I've never seen Setsuna like this before," he murmured.

"Neither have I. I'm glad it's happening. Even if they end up just friends, it'll be good for her."

"You're as bad as she is," he laughed. "Or Minako. I hope you didn't try to set Naru and Fluorite up together."

"That would be silly, wouldn't it? She's entirely wrong for him." I grinned. "After all, she's not his Prince."

"I'd hoped he'd outgrown that," Mamoru sighed. "He knows..."

"That you're Usagi's. He's smart enough to know he could never be yours, but - just like Nephrite and Makoto - you color his perceptions of any other man he meets. Until he meets someone who outshines his memory of you, he's not going to find the man for him."

"I hope he does. He's a good friend, and I don't want him to be unhappy."

"Neither do I. He's got a good heart. I think he'll be a good friend to all of us."

"Now you sound like Usagi," Mamoru laughed. Ami picked that moment to slip her arms around mine and smile up at me happily.

"What silly thing did you do now, darling?" she teased.

"Just said that I think Fluorite will be a good friend to all of us because he has a good heart." I grinned at Mamoru. "Hey, I could have been more like Usagi and said that he'd be a good friend because he has love in his heart."

Mamoru laughed and reached for me with a playful growl. I ducked away and ran for the front door with Mamoru chasing me, threatening terminal noogies and other equally dire punishments. The door burst open just as I was about to hit it, and Usagi came running in, chased by Minako, Makoto, and Rei. With no place to go to avoid a crash, I did the only thing I could think of, and rolled. Usagi managed to jump over me, into Mamoru's arms. The others didn't see me coming, and I was suddenly buried in a mass of squirming, shouting, laughing women.

The party rapidly got silly after that.


	12. A Wedding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the wedding of the story. Try not to get lost.

The rest of the week was pretty busy, with my mother and sister arriving on Monday, Becky arriving on Thursday, and Rusty and Gwen both arriving on Friday. Between trips to the airport, shopping, dinners out, and wedding preparations, there was barely enough time to make sure the watches were ready for Saturday.

Sarah, my mother, and my sister had spent hours together; almost as much time as Ami, Hotaru, and my sister had spent. My sister's a nurse, so her tales of hospital life and the behavior of doctors who were full of themselves kept the attention of our two future MDs. When Becky arrived, Hotaru immediately took charge of her. I guess it helped that Hotaru had suffered from asthma before she became Sailor Saturn, so she was the only one other than me who could really understand what Becky was going through in Tokyo's smog.

All of my American friends were shocked by the difference in my appearance. I can't blame them. Now that I was at my fighting weight, I looked a lot different than I did when I was fat, out of shape, and in constant pain. Ami and I took everyone out to a restaurant Setsuna recommended for dinner on Friday night. We had to reserve a pretty large room in order to have room for everyone from Usagi's family to the American crew.

Usagi surprised all of us - especially her parents - by letting Serenity guide her actions all night. Ami, Minako, Setsuna, and I were kept busy translating for everyone else, while Mamoru pretended to not understand English in order to devote more attention to Usagi. Rusty and Fluorite hit it off pretty good, and Naru only had to gag Umino three or four times to shut him up when he started rambling on about things nobody else had any interest in, like the proper technique for preparing sea cucumber. He reminded me far too much of myself at his age. Or at my current age, for that matter. If I hadn't found Ami, I'd probably have been doomed to wandering through the rest of my life alienating people with my oblivious enthusiasm.

**You were destined to meet her.**

**Thanks, Setsuna. Was I thinking that loud?**

**Why don't you ask Ami?**

I looked down, into Ami's worried gaze, and lost myself in her love for a while. When we finally came up for air, Minako yelled out, "Do it again!" which had both of us sliding down in our seats in hopes of hiding behind the table.

 

Ami and I went separately to the shrine in the morning. Setsuna had insisted on taking Ami, so she could make the final adjustments on her gown, while I had to make sure all of our guests arrived safely. By the time we got to the shrine, even Sarah was out of breath from the climb. While they caught their breaths, I looked down the stairs and chuckled softly. I'd been coming up here so much, I'd forgotten how far it was.

A group of Americans was standing outside the doors of the shrine, talking with Grandfather. I hadn't realized he knew English. Then again, the way he was gesturing looked entirely too much like he was telling a story about how he'd kicked my butt around the dojo, so I led my guests over there in hopes of distracting him.

"Ah! And here's the lucky man! Come over here, Bill! A lovely young lady with a big key dropped these people off here just a few minutes ago."

I looked over the strangers, wondering what about them had inspired Setsuna to bring them here. One of them, a woman somewhere around Sarah's age, walked over and offered henu. I blinked in surprise and returned the greeting, with a respectful bow.

"Em hotep, Demon Hunter. I must admit, I was surprised to learn of your existence - and even more that it was one of our newest shemsu who held the position."

She smiled warmly and nodded toward the others. "I asked Lady Pluto to bring all of us who were in Chicago when she came to bring me for your wedding."

"W...welcome, Niswt. When I didn't hear from you after sending the announcement and invitation, I wasn't sure you'd be able to make it." I smiled and shook my head. "Actually, I was pretty sure you wouldn't. I should have known Pluto would take that in hand, too. She's been pretty busy, making sure this wedding goes off exactly as it should."

"So it seems. Come and meet the others." She turned and walked back to the group she'd been with, and I followed in stunned awe. The Niswt(AUS) had come all the way to Japan for my wedding...and Setsuna had thought her presence was important enough to bring her.

She introduced me to the others - all of the priests in the Temple, along with her personal scribe. I guess my awe was a little much to take, because after a minute, she turned to Grandfather with an amused smile.

"How do you usually deal with this situation?"

Grandfather reached into his robes and pulled out something, which he passed to the Niswt(AUS). Once she had it in her hand, she turned to face me with a mischievous grin and cut loose with the entire contents of Grandfather's pocket Super Soaker. As I sputtered in surprise, she laughed.

"All I deserve is your respect," she explained. "Save your awe for Netjer." She looked me over and chuckled. "I think you might need to go change. You're a little wet."

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She laughed warmly and left me to figure out what I was going to do now. I was glad I'd let Setsuna provide my tux. It felt like MacManusite, so I wasn't worried about damage to it from the water, but it was still a shock. You just don't think of the leader of your faith doing something like that.

When my guests had caught their breath, they moved toward the shrine and introduced themselves to the others there, so that by the time the Japanese guests arrived, the Americans all at least knew who each other were. Grandfather kept laughing softly as he watched me, before finally coming over to swat me between the shoulders.

"You didn't know they were coming, did you?" he chuckled, as if this was a surprise he'd put over on me. "We've been working on this for a few weeks now, with the help of Sailor Pluto. The Lady's a damned good priestess. If I were sixty years younger..."

I laughed and tossed a playful punch his direction. "That's never stopped you before, old man. Why let it stop you now?"

"And have Rei flash-fry me on your wedding day? Do I look stupid?" He laughed and winked. "Of course, after the wedding could be a different matter entirely."

I noticed, as people gathered, that Mamoru was, like all the Senshi, among the missing. I wondered if Setsuna had made a special outfit for him, too. Grandfather and the Niswt(AUS) stood together as Yuuichiro herded people together. I noticed the Senshi's parents were looking around worriedly. It was time for the wedding to begin, and none of them were there yet.

Grandfather cleared his throat to begin speaking, then fell silent as I noticed the shadows gathering near the stairs from the street. When the shadows cleared, they were all standing there. My heart caught joyfully as my gaze fell on the woman who owned my heart. She was wearing a sapphire blue evening gown with spaghetti straps and a princess bodice, with a matching ribbon choker. On her forehead, the sigil of Mercury glowed in the same sapphire blue as her gown. When I was finally able to tear my gaze from her, I saw that they were all, except for Usagi and Chibi-Usa, wearing the same style of gown, but in different colors: Minako wore topaz yellow, Rei wore ruby red, Makoto wore emerald green, Hotaru wore purple, Haruka wore amber, Michiru wore aquamarine, and Setsuna wore a red so dark it seemed almost black. Usagi and Chibi-Usa both wore strapless gowns with bodices designed to look as if they were wrapped in a chain of full moons; Usagi's was in white, and Chibi-Usa's was in pink. All of them had their sigils glowing on their foreheads as they escorted Ami to my side.

"They  **are**  beautiful, aren't they?" Mamoru's voice asked from my side. I glanced toward him, and barely restrained a gasp of surprise. He was wearing his royal armor. I'd forgotten, in my rapt contemplation of Ami's beauty, just how good looking he was. As the Senshi reached the front and parted, leaving Ami standing beside me, Usagi moved to stand in front of Grandfather and the Niswt, extending a hand toward Mamoru. He stepped forward to take his place at her side, and she looked over the crowd, every inch Princess Serenity.

"We are gathered to celebrate the joining of Lady Mercury and her beloved consort, the Demon Hunter. It is our wish that they find happiness and love in each other, and that their union be long and fruitful. Ami, Bill, stand forth."

We looked at each other and stepped forward. Ami seemed to have been expecting this, so I followed her lead. When we reached the place before Endymion and Serenity, Ami sank to her knees, with me beside her. Serenity placed her hands on our heads, and Endymion covered hers with his as she spoke.

"We bless this union, in the name of the Earth and the Moon. May your joy be as eternal as the stars and your love light your hearts as the sun lights the sky. We call upon all present to witness this union and join in the blessing of our hearts."

Serenity and Endymion lifted their hands, and Serenity's crystal floated between them - followed a moment later by a gold crystal that had come from Endymion. The two crystals glowed, bathing us in their light, and Ami and I suddenly felt every part of each other, from her love for Zoisite in the Moon Kingdom to her devotion to me in this life. I felt her pain at never living in any place long enough to have friends as a child - she was surprised to feel the same pain in my heart - I felt her love for Serenity and the other Senshi, I felt the pleasure she gained in learning and discovery...there was no part of her I did not know, and no part of me she did not know. Mindless of anyone else, we embraced, drawn together by the union of our hearts.

"OK, Grandfather, they're all yours." That sounded more like our Usagi. Ami and I unwillingly drew apart so we could face Grandfather and the Niswt(AUS), as Usagi and Mamoru withdrew to the company of the Senshi. There was utter silence, until the shrine bell began to toll. Rei reacted first, jumping to the highest place available and looking around for an enemy, while Minako, Makoto, and Ami moved to surround Usagi protectively.

"No need for all the excitement on my account," an oddly musical voice said from a nearby tree. The voice's owner leapt to the ground and strolled toward Usagi with a playful smile as all nine of its tails lashed. I blinked and counted again. Yes, the kitsune had nine tails.

"Grandfather, am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?"

"Only if you're seeing a kitsune."

"But nine tails? The only one who rates that...of course. It's for Usagi."

"Who else would it be for? None of the rest of us rate that much rank."

"Except the Niswt, but a kitsune wouldn't know her."

Grandfather and I looked at each other and smiled in agreement. The kitsune, meanwhile, bowed to Usagi.

"Princess Serenity, Prince Endymion. We are pleased to see you have chosen to return to us. Accept our greetings and welcome. Will you be ascending to your rightful places soon?"

Setsuna, who hadn't moved while the Inner Senshi had leapt to Usagi's defense, stepped forward with a secretive smile.

"You know, m'lady, that it is not for us to give times and days. I can, however, assure you that our Prince and Princess will be ascending to their thrones within your lifetime."

"We live a very long time, Lady Pluto. I remember the reigns of their parents, and sincerely hope it is not that long before they take their places again."

I started to laugh softly, then covered my mouth so I wouldn't offend anyone. I just thought it was funny, a kitsune lecturing Setsuna on the passage of time. Setsuna smiled and stepped back to let our Princess take over.

"We will be ascending sooner than that." Usagi smiled, doing her best to maintain her dignity, but obviously as amused as I was. "Perhaps, since you have made such a long journey, you wish to remain and witness the joining of Lady Mercury and her beloved? As the first wedding of our court, it is a special occasion for us all."

"Yuuichiro better have laid in a good supply of sake," I murmured, just loud enough for Grandfather to hear. He chuckled softly and nodded.

"Pluto recommended on Monday that we triple our planned order," he murmured in reply.

"That makes it sound like they drink like leprechauns," I chuckled.

The kitsune considered for a moment, then bowed to Usagi and Mamoru and moved to join the assembly, taking a position behind Ami's mother and mine. They both looked a little nervous at having such a powerful spirit so close to them, but kept their composure. Then again, they - along with everyone other than the Senshi - looked more than a little rattled by a lot of things.

The Senshi returned to their places, as Ami returned to my side and we both faced Grandfather and the Niswt(AUS).

The actual ceremony, while not as impressive as the royal blessing, was just as important to us. By the time Grandfather and the Niswt(AUS) were through, we had no doubt that we were married. The surging mass of humanity that swept forward to congratulate us as we turned to face them was almost as frightening as a wave of enemy soldiers - maybe more so, since we had to face them as our friends and family.

I kept glancing toward the kitsune, wondering when the excitement would begin, when Setsuna swept up to embrace us both.

"You don't have to worry, Bill. She won't cause any trouble in Serenity's court."

"Was I that obvious?"

"As obvious as the 'Kick Me' sign on your back."

I jumped in surprise and tried to reach around to feel for the sign, only to have Ami giggle and Setsuna smile: the closest she allowed herself to come to laughter.

"You..." I stalked toward Setsuna with the intention of introducing her to the nearest pool of water. She smiled and let me catch her, then gave me a happy kiss - still with all the passion of a sister, though. I gave up. How could I possibly stay mad at her? Especially with my beloved beside her, laughing at the look on my face. Besides, that was the first time I'd ever heard her tease...anyone. And she trusted me enough to do it to me. How could I resist?

I swatted her bottom gently, bringing an "Oh" of surprise, and moved to embrace my bride.

"Have we been captured by everyone yet?"

"Everyone who's going to before dinner," Ami said firmly. "Come on."

As we worked our way through the crowd toward the dojo, which had been redone to serve as our reception hall, I noticed Ami was no more eager to run into her mother than I was to run into mine. Those questions were some I really didn't want to answer just yet - especially when I saw how those Senshi who had living parents were being besieged by questions, tears, and other expressions of dismay. I imagined how much more difficult it would be if they'd shown up in their fighting uniforms.

Once we were in the reception hall, Setsuna vanished, then returned with my gifts for the Senshi. The three of us placed them at the head table, marking the seats of the intended recipients. Sapphire blue roses marked Ami's mother's seat, and blood red roses marked my mother's. Ami and I took our seats and occupied each other with loving revelations of our hearts while we waited for the rest to arrive.

 

Serenity looked around the reception and smiled as we waited for her to announce the dinner. Ami and I may have been the bride and groom, but she was still our Princess. Everyone had finally found their seats, and she stood to speak.

"Now that our beloved friends are one, we celebrate their union with them." She paused, and Usagi finished with "Let's eat!"

All of the Senshi laughed, as did the Tsukinos. If there was one thing we all knew far too well, it was Usagi's appetite.

Dinner began with a seaweed salad that I enjoyed far too much for my own good - in fact, I think I'm the only one who enjoyed it as much as Haruka did. After that, it proceeded through course after course of the favorite foods of every one of us, with little sandwiches to nibble on while the heavier courses were being distributed, curried squash (I didn't remember mentioning my love for that to anyone - it must have been Setsuna's doing), unagi on soba, salmon and mackerel sashimi, fugu (that surprised me, in a crowd this size), and some American dishes like lasagna, ribs, mac and cheese, and (of course) all the tea, wine, cider, or sake you could drink.

When dessert finally came around, only those of us who had an appetite like Usagi's or had experience with royal feasts were able to think about it without turning slightly green. We had cherry pie, chocolate pudding, chocolate or vanilla ice cream, and the wedding cake.

The cake was definitely one of Makoto's creations. It was a work of art, with nine tiers, each decorated with the colors and sigils of one of the Senshi, except for the bottom layer, which was decorated with the colors and sigils of both the Prince and Princess, and the top layer, which had both Ami's and mine. The love that had gone into creating that cake brought tears to both our eyes, and we embraced Makoto, creating a Jupiter sandwich. She blushed beautifully, which only encouraged us.

The kitsune actually helped with the cake, using her power to separate the tiers without damage after we'd cut the ceremonial first slice. Ami and I agreed we'd have to find a way to show her our thanks. While the cake was being distributed, Usagi announced it was time for the presents, which meant it was time for me to speak. As soon as Usagi sat down, I stood.

"Before we open our gifts, Ami and I would like our Prince and Princess, and the rest of their court, to open the gifts we placed at their seats. This is our way of saying thank you for the love you've shown us."

As I sat, the gifts were opened, and they all began laughing - probably at the idea of me giving them watches, with my notoriously vague time sense.

**Let me know when they're all wearing them, Setsuna?**

**Of course.**

Ami and I snuggled while the others looked delightedly at their watches. Chibi-Usa looked at us with an awed expression in her eyes and leaned over to whisper to us.

"How did you know about these? I always wished I had one when I was growing up, because all the Senshi had them. Do they work like the watches I remember?"

"Only one way to find out, Sprout. Gonna put it on?" I smiled warmly at her, but refused to offer any hints. Chibi-Usa quickly strapped her watch on and gazed at it hopefully.

**Is this what you were asking about, Sprout?**

Chibi-Usa squealed happily and jumped up to throw her arms around us.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" She could talk just as fast as Usagi when she was excited, but it was easy to understand what she was trying to say. All we had to do was listen to her heart.

**Everyone is ready.**

**Thanks, Setsuna.**

I thought of talking with all the Senshi at once.

**Now that you all have your watches on, I'll let Chibi-Usa explain why she's so excited. Just think of talking to everyone at once, Sprout.**

Images flowed over us, of the King and Queen wearing their watches, and of the Senshi wearing them, and Chibi-Usa wishing she had one just like them because they could use them as communicators, and the watches all had personalities of their own and would sometimes talk to her just like Luna and Artemis...her excitement made it a little difficult to keep up with the flow, but we managed, somehow.

The Senshi jumped with surprise when I made first contact, except for Setsuna, who simply smiled and nodded. Once the initial surprise was over, the questions and explanations flowed over the watches. Edgar was the only one who'd awakened so far, but they all had the potential. Each one had an induction pickup woven into the band, and was powered by a hyperspatial energy tap. If the communications system worked as I hoped, it would keep them connected no matter where they were, since it worked by sending its signals through hyperspace, where the usual radio signal problems didn't exist.

"So are you all gonna sit there looking at each other, or do we get to see presents?" Grandfather demanded, bringing us - blushing - back to the real world, with another connection that bound us all together.

Ami and I laughed together and cleared a space in front of our seats for the delivery of the gifts. Thank goodness this crowd knew one or the other, or both, of us well enough that we weren't saddled with six toasters, four blenders, and three coffee pots. For nearly half an hour, every time we thought we'd reached the end of the gifts, Minako or Makoto had come running up with another armload. After a while, Ami and I started looking worried. It wasn't until we both recognized the same item as something we'd already received that we caught on to what was going on, though.

"MAKOTO! MINAKO!" Ami stood, her sigil flaring as she glared at the duo, who were laughing hysterically.

"You should see yourself!" Makoto laughed.

"It's priceless!" Minako agreed.

Then Usagi began giggling, moments before throwing her head back with one of her room-clearing laughs.

"You should have seen the two of you! You looked as if you were afraid you'd have to send out thank-you notes to half the world! Good job, guys."

"You put them up to this?" Ami growled dangerously as she turned toward Usagi.

"Yup! Wasn't it fun?" Usagi not only was not repentant, she looked proud of herself. Then she stuck an envelope in Ami's hand and grinned. "This one's from all of us."

"How can you stay mad at her?" Ami sighed, taking the envelope and hugging Usagi. "It's just not possible."

When Ami opened the envelope, she gasped and dropped the papers that came out of it. I scooped them up out of her lap and blinked in surprise. They'd gotten together and bought first class passage on an around the world cruise for us. We would leave the first day of June, and return in September. A note from Usagi, tucked in among the tickets, schedules, and other stuff, said "No studying allowed on this cruise. That means you, Ami! Don't make me have to make it a royal command."

I read the note and laughed, then handed it to Ami. She turned a beautiful shade of pink and tried to hide behind the papers as I chuckled and hugged her gently. While I was hugging Ami, I noticed Usagi was rising to her feet. She looked lovingly at us, then looked over the crowd.

"Since our hosts are too overcome to speak, I'll explain for them. They just received first class tickets for a cruise around the world. It is our wish that they use this time to get to know each other better, without the stress of our regular lives to distract them. It is also our wish that they use this time to observe the state of the world, so they may report to us on their return. We are informed that there will be no threats to Tokyo requiring Lady Mercury's intervention while she is on this cruise, and the few needs we have for a Demon Hunter will be served by our friend Smis-Dw."

Usagi pointed to the back of the room, where a woman who looked a lot like Grace Jones stood with a smile, offered henu, then returned to her seat with the Niswt's(AUS) group. Haruka and Michiru gasped in surprise, then looked up at Usagi in unison.

"We have another surprise for you," Usagi continued. "Ladies and gentlemen, may I present SILK!"

My jaw dropped in surprise. I didn't know they were still together, but when the curtain around the corner of the room was pulled back, it really was them. Sure, they're a bit too rocking for the average wedding, but then again, this wasn't the average wedding.

**You'd better get over there, Bill. They're waiting for you to sing their first song with them.**

**They are? Which one?**

**You'll know.**

Great. Now Usagi was being mysterious. I kissed Ami and slipped out of my seat to join the band on stage. Once I was there with them, I realized how they'd managed to get SILK. Setsuna had brought them. Kinuko looked as young as she had when she'd played Priss. And just as sexy, too.

**I heard that.**

**Well...Want to see her through my eyes?**

**All right, she is sexy.**

**But not as sexy as you are, Angel.**

**Mmm...you know just the right things to say.**

**Only because they're true.**

The music began, and I had to stifle a laugh. This song was definitely not their usual style, but if they were willing to play it for me, I could definitely make it a gift to my Ami. I took the microphone, looked directly at her, let my love fill my voice, and sang "Forever In Your Eyes." By the end of the song, I was standing in front of her, holding her hand as her eyes filled with joyful tears to match the tears of joy in my own.

The band moved on to their usual music, and people began mingling. As expected, Haruka and Michiru headed straight for their former lover, while Ami moved into my arms and sighed happily.

**I'm so glad I understand English, beloved.**

**So am I. Setsuna must have had fun convincing them to play that song.**

**She's certainly doing her best to make this perfect for us. I'm starting to worry.**

**Worry?**

**What it is that requires us to love each other so much in order to face it.**

**Does it have to be anything that dramatic?**

**She's never done anything in the past just for the sake of love or kindness. There's always been some world-shaking crisis behind everything she's ever done for us.**

**If there is, we'll face it when it comes. Together. With our love and faith in each other to sustain us.**

I led her to the dance floor, intending to distract her by learning just how well she could move in that gown of hers. By the time we'd gone half way across the room, though, her mother, mine, and my American friends had found each other and were descending on us with serious intent.

**What I wouldn't give for a nice simple demon to slay right about now...**

**Or a youma. Anything but facing them!**

Ami and I smiled and hugged each other, in perfect agreement over the dire threat we were about to face.

 

"Remember our first night in this house?" I asked as we stepped out of the limousine that had brought us home sometime around 3am. The party was still going strong at the shrine, but we'd decided we wanted to be alone. The limo had been waiting at the bottom of the stairs, and the chauffeur had informed us that he had a message for us, the wording of which was, "It's your destiny. Now shut up and get in the car."

"Mmm-hmmm...," Ami purred happily and snuggled close to me. "It was one of the happiest times of my life."

"Then you'll remember teasing me about this!" I laughed and scooped her up so I could carry her into the house. "Open the door, David."

The front door swung open as we approached, so I could carry Ami across the threshold without having to stop and open it. She giggled and nodded, snuggling closer as I carried her. Since she'd teased me about practicing for our wedding night, I'd carried her across the threshold every chance I got, and she'd happily repeated the joke every time I'd done it.

The door swung shut behind us, and I lowered her to her feet so I could concentrate on kissing her. Her arms snaked around my neck and held me close as we kissed, releasing each other only when our hearts were beating fast enough to make us breathless.

"Your mother looked so lost!" Ami giggled when we finally regained our ability to speak. "And I'd thought the interrogations I'd gotten from her and Sarah over the last week were bad."

"Your mother looked as if she were having a little trouble accepting it, too." I hugged her gently. "Of course, it's not every day you get to learn your daughter is princess of an entire planet."

"Not that it matters now - at least, not until we reclaim it." Ami murmured, then grinned. "That'll be when? Next week?"

She batted her eyes at me in that look of innocent love that melted my heart every time. I laughed happily and returned to our previous activity, losing myself in her kiss.


	13. Explanations are Never Easy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Explaining things to your family is never easy.

The airport was as crowded as it had been every time we'd gone there the week before, but we wanted to see my - and Ami's new - American friends off together. My mother and sister had discovered they liked the others as much as I did - well, almost as much, since I'd been in love with each of the others, and still loved all of them. Sarah was looking around sadly, with the gaze of someone who hopes they'll find something - or someone - before it's too late. Rusty and Becky were laughing at a joke Gwen had just told. The sounds of machinegun fire punctuated their laughter.

Ami and I looked at each other in surprise. Machinegun fire? There wasn't even a question about what we'd do. Ami transformed, right in the middle of our friends, while I leapt atop the nearest high object to scan for the enemy. Down the hall, near the El Al counter, were a group of eight people wearing bandanas over their faces and waving AK-47s. Sailor Mercury joined me on my perch and we plotted our course over the heads of the panicking crowd. I had to trust our friends to find a spot out of the crush and stick together; we had work to do.

Between my grapple and some convenient lockers and vending machines, we managed to make it close enough to the terrorists to make our attack. Mercury used her Shabon Spray to blind and confuse them, and I moved in to finish them off. I didn't kill any, despite the number of bodies they'd left behind the ticket counter, but I was sure the broken bones they received when I passed through would keep them out of trouble for enough time to allow the police to arrive.

When we got back to where we'd left our friends, we found they had done as I'd hoped and retreated to a maintenance alcove. Sailor Mercury transformed back to Ami, and was immediately besieged by questions. After letting the confusion go on for a minute, Ami raised her hand and got quiet from everyone.

"Yes, I'm Sailor Mercury. Yes, Bill knew it when he asked me to marry him. Yes, it has a lot to do with why he's so healthy now. Yes, I know how dangerous this is." She looked at me and smiled with all the love in her heart and a pleading look in her eyes. I wrapped my arms around her and held her close.

"Yes, I know how dangerous this is, too. But as Serenity said, I am a Demon Hunter, so it's no more dangerous than my destined work." I groaned softly as they looked at me expectantly. No escape now but to tell them the parts of my story I'd glossed over or omitted entirely. "Let's find a place we can sit while we talk. This is going to take a while...I'm not sure we'll be able to finish it before your flight."

"We will," Setsuna said as she joined us. "It's important for your friends to understand who and what you are. At least, as much as you understand it." She gave one of those knowing smiles of hers, revealing - in my opinion - that she knew a lot more about what was going on than I did.

Setsuna turned and opened the maintenance door. "If you will all come this way, I have a place waiting for you."

Setsuna walked through the door and vanished into the mist that completely obscured whatever lay beyond. The others looked at each other, then at the mist, then at Ami and me. She smiled and nodded, then walked into the mist. As soon as she'd done that, the others followed. Once the last of them was through, I stepped into the mist, closing the door behind me.

We were in a castle. That much I could tell. The light was soft enough that I could have tolerated it without pain before I died, and revealed a polished onyx floor that stretched into the darkness on all sides. A cluster of seats - several comfy-chairs (Ami always teases me about calling out the Spammish Repetition when I use that term), a couple sofas, and a love seat. Ami had already claimed the love seat and snuggled against me when I sat with her. Setsuna was sitting against one arm of one of the sofas, and drew Sarah down beside her. Once everyone was seated, Setsuna looked to me and nodded, smiling secretively.

"I'd have to say it started with the contest in Newtype magazine. It was a 'Name your favorite Senshi' contest, with a Japanese tour as its grand prize. I won." I shrugged, and looked down at Ami as I thought of just how much I'd won.

"I never found that contest, and I searched that issue from front to back six times when you told me about it," Rusty sounded annoyed and disappointed. He was as much an otaku as me, and when I'd mentioned the contest while we were talking online, he'd been rather - ok, extremely - excited.

"That's because it didn't exist," Setsuna said. "I inserted it into Bill's copy of the magazine, because I knew he wouldn't be able to resist it. And it was important for him to be in Japan."

I should have known she had something to do with it. It was the first time in my life I'd won anything more than a $2 lottery prize or honorable mention in a writing contest.

"And do you know how grateful I was that you didn't enter every contest that came along?" Setsuna asked, her eyes on me. "It wasn't easy, making sure you lost until it was time for you to win."

Wasn't easy? With her power, it should have been a snap. All she'd have to do is pick the probability that had what she wanted and make it the actuality. I looked at her and opened my mouth to ask what she meant - and closed it again when I saw the glistening in her eyes. She hadn't been talking about the mechanics of it...she'd been talking about her emotions. This was getting really weird. Did she feel the same strange connection that Ami and I felt to her?

"And so . . .?" Rusty prodded gently.

"Oh. Right. Well, on my second day in Tokyo, I decided to take in the Tokyo Tower. I mean, it's as famous as the Eiffel Tower, and a lot easier to get to when you're not in Paris." I grinned. The others laughed. Good. That difficult spot past.

"So anyway, I was waiting in line for an elevator to the observation deck, when the Senshi arrived, fighting with something that looked like it came out of Urotsukidōji. You know how flexible I was then; I just kind of had to brace myself and hope I didn't get run over in the panic. Well, one of them got knocked back and almost killed right next to me, so I did the only thing I could think of and stood over her. The demon killed me, but that distracted it long enough for the Senshi to kill it before it could kill her."

Several of them gasped. I'm not sure if it was at my death, or at the way I was so unconcerned about it.

"Ienpw asked me to come back. Well, He asked me in such a way that I couldn't say no - not without betraying myself. He can be as manipulative as certain princesses we know...." Setsuna smiled warmly - and unrepentantly - at me.

"He also revealed the name of the Senshi whose life I'd saved by dying, so when I woke, I used it without thinking when I tried to convince her to let the others heal her. Well, that got a strong reaction. None of them trusted me. Not that I could blame them; after all, I was a stranger, and I knew the name of at least one of them. They took me to someplace private so I could tell them my story, and that's when I discovered that Sailor Mercury was the same Ami who I'd been obsessing over online for a couple years. After Ami revealed herself to me, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune decided to trust me. Then Sailor Moon . . ." I held out my hands and shrugged, "did this to me, so that I wouldn't feel like a fat old pervert because of my love for Ami. After that, they all decided they trusted me, and took me into their hearts."

I looked down at Ami with a happy smile and kissed her forehead before looking at all the others and continuing.

"I learned I was a Demon Hunter...the next day, wasn't it, Ami?" She nodded, purring contentedly. "Things have just kept snowballing since then, and now . . ." I looked at Setsuna thoughtfully before continuing, "I think we're going to see Serenity finally begin to take her proper place."

"It's not going to be quite so fast," Setsuna said gently. "She believes she has to learn how to govern before she can reign, and will not make the attempt to exert herself in more than smaller matters, like the wedding, until she feels more sure of herself." She chuckled softly. "Perhaps she could use the guidance of a fictional prince. The dream of Laputa is not so different from the dream of the Crystal Kingdom."

"Fred's about as regal as I am," I snorted. "The only guidance he'd give her is to trust her people and treat them as mature adults, not untrustworthy peasants."

"I think you sell yourself short," Setsuna replied gently. "If you were what you feel yourself to be, would you have captured the heart of your princess?"

"She's right," Ami growled softly, swatting my arm as she looked up at me with devotion in her eyes. "You're a lot more than you imagine. And you'll make a great prince."

I looked at the others with a resigned smile. "I give up. How can I argue with the two most important women in my life?"

"So why didn't you tell me - why didn't you tell us - any of this before?" my mother demanded. It was pretty obvious she was trying her hardest to not let her worry overwhelm her. There was a general chorus of agreement from all the others.

"How would you have taken it if, the one time I phoned, I'd said 'Hi, Mom, I'm getting married and I want you to come to the wedding and by the way I'm a Demon Hunter now and I've already been killed once so don't worry about it I'll be ok'?"

She opened her mouth to speak, couldn't find any appropriate words, and shook her finger at me in that gesture I knew so well - the one that said she wasn't sure whether to be angry, proud, or worried. Ami shifted so I could stand, and I moved over to give her a hug. That broke the dam, and she began crying. I hate making my mother cry, so I tried to sooth her, only to have her push away and shake her head as she took my handkerchief.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't want you to be upset. I wanted you to enjoy the wedding and go home proud of me."

"I AM proud of you, Bill. I'm scared for you, too. And it's hard to realize that you'll be doing things I can't help you with or protect you from, any more than I could protect you from that bitch."

"Mom, you can help me," I said, taking a deep breath. Somehow, I knew what I had to do, and it gave me strength. "All of you can help me. Since I'm going to be a prince now, I'm going to need advisors. People I can trust to tell me when I'm being an ass, people to remind me of things I may forget with all the time I spend in my lab or fighting at my princess' side. I'm going to need friends who aren't Senshi, to remind me of the things we're likely to forget amid our duties." I looked around at the others, then back to my mother. "I'd like you to think about it when you get home, and tell me what you decide, one way or another. You are my closest friends; you're the ones I know I can trust as much as I trust the Senshi."

Sarah looked up at Setsuna, who returned her smile with one of her own. I suspected she already knew her answer. I looked around at the others; Becky's inner turmoil was plain on her face. I wished I could offer her an easy way to decide, but she had to do it the same way I did - the hard way. Gwen, unlike the rest, had a boyfriend and girlfriend to think of. I knew it would be hard for her, too - but I hoped that her time with us had helped her clarify in her own heart how much she loved them and whether her love would stand being apart from them. Of course, she also didn't have to be in Tokyo to accept the invitation. None of them did, but I hoped they'd choose to join us in person.

Rusty just grinned at me. He, like Sarah, had no commitments holding him in place. No relationships, no fears, no long-term contracts...and I knew that he hated being forced to work in a dead-end job just to pay the rent when he had a degree in chemistry that should have been his ticket to something better. If he could learn hyperdimensional physics, I could use his chemical knowledge....

"You know Ami and Hotaru," I said to my sister. "They're both planning to be doctors. Doctors need nurses to keep them in line." Ami punched me gently in the ribs with an embarrassed laugh. "And this would be your chance to put together the best features of every place you've ever worked at and help make the best hospital we can have."

I looked around at everyone and smiled quietly, holding Ami close. It was up to them to make their choices; I couldn't do it for them.

"But what you're doing is so dangerous!" my mother objected. "You could get killed!"

"Mom, I've already died once. It's no big deal." I mentally kicked myself as my mother reacted to that exactly as I should have foreseen. "Here, let me demonstrate how much safer I am now. Setsuna, can you get a gun from somewhere?" Setsuna nodded, reached behind the sofa she and Sarah were sitting on, and pulled out a rather large pistol.

"Will a Grizzly do?" she asked in her most innocent tone. I made a mental note to have a word with her about that tone sometime later. A Grizzly would do just fine. It was only one of the most powerful handguns in the world - more powerful than some hunting rifles. And almost as hard to get as a Gyrojet.

"I think so. Assuming you ever bothered to learn how to use a gun." Take that, princess! I grinned teasingly at her.

Setsuna didn't say anything; she just smiled and aimed at me, then squeezed off three quick shots. The shadows absorbed the sound as thoroughly as they absorbed the light, so it only sounded as loud as a truck backfiring, instead of the earth-shaking roar it should have generated. The first shot knocked my hat off; the second and third hit me in the chest. The bullets flattened against my shirt and fell to the floor. I looked down thoughtfully.

"Hmm. I guess the hyperspatial extensions help it absorb the kinetic energy, too. I hadn't thought of that." I looked up with a smile - at a collection of shocked faces. Even Ami looked surprised - although not as shocked as the others.

"You hadn't thought of that?" My mother's voice was shrill in her shock, fear, and relief. "What had you thought of?"

"I'd thought I'd get a nasty bruise, knocked on my ass...maybe a cracked rib or two, after I saw the pistol Setsuna brought out. I should have realized this would happen." I tried to glare at Setsuna, but just couldn't bring myself to do it. "It seems someone else knew it would."

"Don't you care what happens to you? Don't you know what a cracked rib can do to you?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. I saw a graphic demonstration just before I died. If the other Senshi hadn't healed her, the Senshi whose life I saved would have died anyway, because her ribs had not just been cracked, they'd been shattered and were shredding her lungs." I sighed and tried a different tack. "I do care about what happens to me, Mom. But I have faith in my work. I know it'll do what I create it to do. And I have faith in my family. What we're doing will make the world a paradise again, and isn't that worth giving your life for?"

"This doesn't have anything to do with your mission. You could have been killed, just to prove a point to us!"

"No. Not with Setsuna handling the gun." I thought a moment before continuing. "I think this does have something to do with our mission. Each one of us is going to have to choose friends and advisors - people we can trust as much as we trust each other, and who trust us enough to speak their minds to us. If I can't trust my own mother to do that, who can I trust?" I grinned as she faltered and stared at me in surprise. "Becky, you did a good job of telling me what an asshole I was last summer, when I started raving about part of my political philosophy. Sarah, you've been a lot gentler about it - maybe because you know I'm still in love with you despite knowing that what I wish will never be. Rusty, you're another one of those quiet ones - but you've always listened to me and nudged me when I needed direction. Gwen, you've helped me see parts of myself I'd forgotten, and you've reminded me of things that should be important to me but I hadn't noticed. Every one of you is important to me, and...I need you."

Sarah opened her mouth to speak - and Setsuna silenced her with a kiss before she could get a word out. I waited, cuddling Ami, while the others digested my latest plea. There was only so much I could say, and I felt as if I'd said it all. After several minutes when nobody spoke, I kissed Ami and went to rescue my hat. Since it, like the rest of my outfit, was MacManusite, it was undamaged. Once I had it on my head, I grinned at the others and tried my Bogie impersonation. As usual, it was so bad it could suck-start a B52.

"So let's get your luggage and get you all home, eh?" Another area of light appeared nearby, with everyone's luggage neatly stacked in it.

"Unless anyone is looking forward to being cooped up in an airplane for far too many hours, I can deliver you from here," Setsuna said. The expressions of distaste on every face made it clear which their preference was. Nobody likes being cooped up on an airplane for over twelve hours - even if it's in first class.

Sarah was the last to be delivered to her home; she looked back at us wistfully before turning to walk through the door. Setsuna sighed and collapsed on the sofa as soon as Sarah was gone.

"I understand now why you love her. It's going to be hard . . ." Setsuna looked at the floor, tears welling in her eyes. She shook her head and her mask of inhuman indifference clamped down over the emotion we'd seen. "I'll be doing things that are harder. Since you're here, would you like to tour my home?"

**I wish we could ease her pain, beloved.**

**So do I, Angel. All we can do is love her and make her understand that we believe in her.**

Ami and I nodded and moved to flank Setsuna; we took her hands and smiled at her.

"We'd love to," Ami answered for both of us. "I don't remember my castle on Mercury. I barely remember that it existed."

"It was a beautiful place. Light, airy, with a surprise around every corner. You and Serenity were the only ones who could ever hide things from me, you know. That was something all of the Serenities could do - but you were the only Mercury who could. I'd never understood why before...." Setsuna's voice trailed off into what sounded almost like a sob.

"Do you understand why now?" Ami asked gently, stopping to face Setsuna and touch her cheek with her fingertips.

"Please...please don't ask me," Setsuna whispered. "I can't tell you. Not...not yet."

Ami hugged her tightly and nodded, murmuring gently, "We won't ask. We promise."

"Thank you," Setsuna whispered, returning the hug and holding onto Ami as if she were afraid to lose her. I placed my hands on her shoulders, and she broke, sobbing bitterly into Ami's hair. I moved closer, wrapped my arms around both of them, and held Setsuna in the space between us as she cried.

After some time, the sobs ended and Setsuna took my handkerchief to wipe her face. We gave her all the time she needed to compose herself, and were rewarded with a weak, but grateful and loving, smile. She took our hands and led us on a tour of her castle, showing us everything from the Time Gate, which Ami gazed at with some trepidation, to the observation rooms at the top of the castle's towers, which showed just how far from the sun we were. At that distance, the sun is just the brightest star in the sky - barely enough to turn the darkness into twilight shadows.

Only one room was closed to us; she said it wasn't yet time for us to see it, but that we would, soon enough. We accepted that without question. We trusted Setsuna as implicitly as we trusted Serenity, and that was good enough for us. Sooner than we liked, it was time to go, and Setsuna returned to our house with us.

"Back so soon? You just-," David stopped in mid-sentence, then started up again, complaining loudly. "Setsuna! If you're going to do that, the least you could do is warn me! Burning six hours in five minutes is going to play havoc with our timestamps when we synchronize data. I swear, just because they can play with time, they think...."

David's complaints faded into disgruntled grumbling as Ami and I laughed in unison.

"He'll always be like that, too," Setsuna sighed, with a much put-upon expression. Then she smiled teasingly and raised her voice so David couldn't pretend he hadn't heard it. "You'd think he'd acquired Luna's soul."

"Why would you be comparing me to a self-righteous, nagging, overbearing scold who thinks she knows what's best for the whole universe?"

"Gee, I don't know why," Setsuna answered sweetly. Ami blinked in surprise and looked at her, then at me with a puzzled expression. I didn't understand the problem. Setsuna's answer had seemed perfectly appropriate to me.

"Dad, you've got email." David seemed to be doing his best to pretend he hadn't heard Setsuna's answer to his complaint. "Rusty wants to know how Setsuna expects him to pack up and move in six weeks, and how she managed to get him a resident visa."

"I have many skills," Setsuna murmured with a smile. I snorted as I imagined our Setsuna wearing Xena's armor. It just didn't fit. She grinned at me and tried that yell, causing both of us to break into laughter. Ami looked between us with an aura of confusion about her, so obvious that I shared an image of Setsuna as Xena with her, and she joined in. The three of us held each other as we laughed, clearing away quite a bit of the shadow that had come upon us with Setsuna's tears.

 


	14. Returning Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ami and Bill return from their honeymoon, right into a pillow fight.

"So what shall we do today?" Ami asked, playfully tugging the covers off me and tossing them across the stateroom. When I just smiled up at her and let my gaze travel over her hungrily, she posed for me, making sure I saw every inch of the bulge our daughter made in her waistline. She laughed and danced away as I reached for her. "Uh-uh! If I let you catch me, we'll be in bed all day!"

"Would that be such a bad thing, sexy lady?" I grinned at the way her blush traveled all the way down her body. She'd been feeling undesirable ever since she'd begun showing, and I delighted in reminding her that as far as I was concerned, she was the most desirable woman in the solar system.

"You certainly know how to turn a girl's head, my lord." She blushed and curtseyed, then blushed some more as my body displayed just how desirable she was to me. With a happy sigh, she climbed into bed and snuggled up next to me. "I love you so much."

"I love you, Ami, with all my heart. What would you like to do today?" I kissed her gently and gently stroked her tummy. As always, she purred happily and pressed against my hand.

"Mmm...we really need to train a little, but where can we do it?" She giggled as I hit one of her ticklish spots and swatted gently at my hand. "Are you trying to distract me?"

"Not at all, Angel. I'm just enjoying your presence." I nuzzled her and chuckled. "We could train on wrestling without leaving this spot . . ." She squealed and swatted my chest, her eyes sparkling happily. ". . . or we could go out on deck and train under the sun...or we could do something else." I grinned playfully; once Ami's blush had deepened, I whispered, "I'd suggest training under the sun, so we can work on our tans a little before we make port tomorrow."

"What? You remembered what day it is?" She gasped in mock surprise, then shrieked as I pounced on her and pushed her back into the bed. In a matter of moments, we'd both forgotten anything about training . . .

 

 

"Someone must be waiting for us in port," I teased, grinning at Ami. "We were supposed to be stuck until the storm passed."

"Mmm-hmmm. We have been gone for nearly three months, and I'm willing to bet that certain people miss us." She giggled and kissed me, then stepped away so she could put on her Princess appearance. With a shimmer, as if she were viewed through a screen of bubbles, Ami had changed from her blue maternity pants and yellow sailor shirt to a gown like she'd worn when we wed, with her sigil glowing on her forehead.

Lady Mercury looked into my eyes and smiled lovingly. "And how well do you remember what we've been practicing?"

I smiled and bowed to her, closed my eyes, and focussed inside, the way I did when making MacManusite. After a moment, I felt the swirling sensation that told me the transformation was taking place. When I opened my eyes, she was smiling in loving approval as she looked over my tuxedo. I glanced into the mirror and nodded in satisfaction, then adjusted my top hat and bowed to my beloved.

"My Lady, may I have the honor of escorting you to our Princess?"

She took my extended arm and we stepped into the corridor outside our stateroom. A trail of surprised gasps followed us all the way to the gangway; we had been able to conceal who we were all the way around the world, and now that Lady Mercury and her consort were among them, the ripples of excitement spread throughout the ship.

In the first class lounge on shore, Endymion, Serenity, and the rest of our friends and family waited. Mercury and I shared a secret smile as we approached them.

**Three**

**Two**

**One**

In unison, Mercury and I knelt before Serenity and Endymion.

"My Lord, My Lady, we have returned," I began.

"We have taken our pleasure as you commanded," Mercury continued.

"And we are now ready to take up our duties," we finished in unison.

Glancing up, I noticed both of them turning interesting shades as they attempted to control their amusement. Serenity finally placed her hands on our heads and spoke.

"We are happy you are once again home. Your place at our side awaits you, as does your place in our heart. Now rise, and stand with us as is your right."

We rose in unison, and were immediately swept into Serenity's embrace as she tried to whisper amid peals of laughter.

"You two are bad! You're imps! You should be ashamed of yourselves! If all of us hadn't been wearing our royal appearance...."

We laughed and grinned shamelessly at her.

"We knew you would be," I laughed.

"So we decided this was the best way to let you know how much we love you," Mercury finished.

Endymion chuckled and took over when Serenity finally let go, then the Senshi swept in and gathered us back into the family. Sarah and Rusty stood back until we'd been properly welcomed home by the rest, then endured our happy embraces with good humor.

"So has David driven you insane yet?" I laughed as I hugged Rusty.

"Setsuna's distracted him enough to keep him out of my hair," Rusty answered with a grin. "But he's going to be ecstatic when the two of you get home."

"And how have you and Fluorite been getting along?"

It's not often I get to see Rusty blush, but this was definitely one of those times. I was glad to see that the two of them had found each other. I chuckled and put my hand on his shoulder.

"That good, huh? Let us know how it's going, eh?"

Sarah smiled warmly at me from her place beside Setsuna, and I gave her a little bow, before Mercury and I took our place among the Senshi and we all moved to the exit.

 

 

Tsukino-sama was trying to keep something that resembled order as we occupied her living room, while Usagi and Rei engaged in one of their infamous tongue wars. All of the various couples were cuddled together on various items of furniture or pillows. Somehow, we'd managed to keep our roving disaster area...err...I mean, Minako...from "helping" Usagi's mother, while she and Makoto delivered welcome-home snacks through the party.

"So how did you like the cruise?" Sarah asked. "Wasn't being on the ocean everything I'd told you it was?"

Ami and I looked at each other and sighed happily, then nodded in unison.

"Definitely. The only bad part about it was the fact that there wasn't a laboratory to work in." I laughed as Sarah tried to decide how to react to that, while Setsuna whispered into her ear. At Setsuna's whisper, Sarah laughed and wagged a finger at me.

"You are entirely too mad for your own good, do you know that?"

"Of course I am!" I answered, pressing one hand to my chest and raising the other toward the ceiling. "SCIENCE can SAVE THE WORLD!"

Everyone in the room looked at me, saw the expression on my face, and fell over laughing. Pillows flew toward me from all directions, and Ami grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me over into her lap.

"'Twas beauty that killed the beast," I intoned solemnly as I landed in Ami's lap, then let my tongue hang out of my mouth and rolled my eyes up. Ami laughed and bent down to kiss me. Naturally, I reached up, wrapped my arms around her, and held the kiss until she pressed her hands against my chest.

"You, my love, are hopeless!" she giggled happily.

"Au contraire, m'lady. I have many hopes. And they all focus on a certain princess." She turned a beautiful shade of pink and reached for a glass of lemonade, trying to hide her embarrassment. She still reacted so beautifully to expressions of love. I reached up and touched her cheek, whispering my love to her.

Usagi, distracted from her battle with Rei, bounced over and demanded loudly that we tell all about our trip. It was just too good a straight line to pass up; Ami agreed, but insisted I should be the one to take it.

"Do you really want to know ALL about our trip?" I asked, leering playfully at her. Usagi squeaked and buried her face in Mamoru's chest. As soon as she looked away, Ami and I both broke into face-splitting grins as we tried to keep from laughing. When Mamoru and the rest of the Senshi broke into laughter, we lost the fight and joined in the chorus.

"Oooooh...YOU!" Usagi shrieked and grabbed a pillow to pound me over the head with. That brought out another peal of laughter and I fell over backwards onto Ami's lap.


	15. Closing the Circle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story reaches the end of the beginning, and now Setsuna's involvement becomes understandable.

I was in the kitchen, making a pot of tea, when I felt Setsuna's presence. With a soft chuckle, I set out a third cup and turned to face her.

"Good morning. What brings you here so early?"

"You'll know in just a minute." She smiled warmly and added, "There won't be any battles today. Do you remember what day it is?"

"Umm...David?"

"It's October 29, Dad."

My eyes got wide as I remembered, just as I heard Ami's voice coming from upstairs, telling me to call a cab. I dashed past Setsuna, who simply smiled knowingly. How could I forget? Today was the day our daughter was to be born.

As I ran into the bedroom, Ami was looking miserably up at me from the edge of the bed, which was completely soaked through. I gathered her into my arms and held her close, as a spasm swept across her abdomen. She winced and smiled bravely at me.

"It's...not bad. How long until our transport arrives?" Oops. I'd forgotten to phone.

"How long will it take you to dress?" Setsuna asked from the doorway.

I guided Ami to her chair and pulled the dress she'd decided to wear from the closet, then made sure her hospital bag was ready to go.

"Trust a man to forget some of the things you need," Setsuna teased as she moved to the dresser to retrieve underwear and other necessities while Ami was trying to clean herself up.

Between the three of us, we finally managed to get ready to go, and Setsuna led us, through her castle, to the hospital. Ami's mother was already waiting for us when we arrived, and she was checked into a room in less time than it had taken for us to get there. I guess my nervousness showed, because Dr. Mizuno sent me away to get some tea while she was examining her daughter.

By the time I returned, I was more in control of myself, and they let me into the room to hold Ami as her labor dragged on. I guess I wasn't as collected as I'd thought, though, since I wasn't the one who remembered to call the others - she was. They all arrived within minutes - I suspected Setsuna had something to do with that - and Dr. Mizuno had to restrict how many could be in the room with us at a time.

Ami struggled all day, and I wished I could take some of the pain for her. She laughed one time between contractions and kissed my hand, reassuring me that it didn't really hurt all that much - only to do a good job of crushing my hand when the next contraction hit her. By mid-afternoon, Dr. Mizuno had cleared the room of everyone except me, and I think she'd have kicked me out if Ami hadn't made it clear that she wasn't going to let go of me.

When the delivery happened, it surprised everyone. I was holding Ami as another contraction hit her, and suddenly our daughter was squalling on the bed between her legs. Dr. Mizuno scooped her up and cleaned her, then gave her to Ami for nursing while she was tying off and cutting the cord. I never felt as much love for anything or anyone as I did at that moment, as I watched my heart's light and our daughter together.

As I watched them, my breath caught; Dr. Mizuno must have thought I was having a delayed reaction to witnessing the birth, because she steered me to a chair before I could fall down. How could I tell her what I'd suddenly understood? How could I tell her about the recognition that had washed over me when I saw the color of my daughter's hair and eyes? How could I tell her about the pain I knew her daughter - my beloved - would be suffering shortly? Suddenly, I understood why Setsuna was so secretive. It's hard to know what the future holds, and know that you can't change it without hurting those you love far more than the pain you already knew they were going to suffer.

**It hurts. It hurts far more than any physical pain.**

**How will you do it?**

**When her grandmother takes her so Ami can rest. I'll be one of the nurses.**

**Will...was...her childhood happy?**

**As much as an orphan's can be. Queen Serenity made sure of it.**

**Thank you.**

 

 

Ami was finally asleep. The aftermath of the birth was harder on her than the actual birth had been, and she was exhausted. Despite her exhaustion, she had insisted on crawling out of bed to sleep in my lap as soon as the nurses had left. I could hardly deny her that - and held her to my heart as she slept.

Eventually, I pushed the recliner back so we wouldn't fall out and joined my love in sleep. As I slept, I dreamed of our daughter, growing up in a palace on the Moon, manifesting her power as her mother had, and growing into a woman who was so strong that all who knew her were in awe of her.

I felt something - no, someone - in the shadows, and opened my eyes. The presence stepped closer, and took my offered hand. As she knelt beside our chair, I could see that Setsuna's eyes were red with tears, and urged her to lay her head beside Ami's.

"I'm so sorry, Father," she murmured. "I couldn't warn you or Mother before it happened - her pain would have been so much greater if I had."

"I understand, Pumpkin," I murmured gently, stroking her hair. "I understood...as soon as I saw that you were our child."

I took a deep breath to still the sobs that threatened to break forth. My family needed me right now. I could grieve for Setsuna's lost childhood later.

"Bill?" Ami stirred sleepily and mumbled. "I had the strangest dream...."

"It wasn't a dream, Mother," Setsuna murmured, releasing my hand to take Ami's. "I'm here. And I'll never leave you again."

"Mmm...that's good, Setsuna. I love you," Ami mumbled as she snuggled closer to me. Suddenly, she stiffened and sat up, her eyes wide. "Setsuna? My baby? My baby!"

As if that were a signal, Sailor Mars, Sailor Venus, and Sailor Jupiter burst into the room and took protective stances around Ami. Setsuna sighed, kissed us both, and stood, just as Usagi came running into the room with a worried look on her face.

"Would the three of you just relax?" Usagi demanded. "What's going on?"

"Someone stole Ami's baby!" Sailor Mars yelled. "We're here to make sure nobody hurts HER!"

"Nobody's going to hurt her," Usagi said firmly. "Setsuna would have told us if that were going to happen."

"How can you know that? She doesn't tell us half the things she should!" Mars was definitely on the verge of losing her temper.

"Because she would tell us about anything that could hurt her mother," I said, drawing a collection of shocked looks from everyone in the room except Setsuna and Usagi. I looked into Ami's eyes and squeezed her gently. "That's right, Angel. Setsuna's mother. You."

Setsuna turned, revealing to me just how much Mars' accusation had hurt her, and I offered her my free hand. She knelt beside us and slid her arms around Ami.

"I'm sorry, Mother," she murmured softly. "I couldn't find any way to do it without hurting you. All I could do was reduce your pain, I couldn't eliminate it."

Usagi gathered the others and spoke softly and urgently to them. They finally relented and returned to their mundane appearance, then filed out of the room, shooting angry looks in Setsuna's direction.

**Thank you, Princess.**

**You can thank me by loving your wife and daughter with all your heart.**

Usagi threw a grin my way and closed the door behind her, leaving the three of us to find our way together.

 


End file.
